Rineke Dijkstra/Nan Goldin, in conjunction with First Light: A Decade of Collecting at the ICA, ICA/Boston, August 17–October 2, 2016

Referencing the historical genre of portraiture and documentary-style photography, Rineke Dijkstra and Nan Goldin expound upon these traditions in divergent and unique ways. Goldin’s bold images depict her loved ones and closest acquaintances caught in intimate moments. Dijkstra’s stark portraits, on the other hand, present the subjects in heightened focus and repose, stripped bare of context. Goldin’s subjects are in action, capturing an instant within a broader narrative, exploring various gender identities, while Dijkstra’s subjects, including new mothers and children growing into adolescence or adulthood, are at the cusp of unpredictable chapters in their lives. The works in Rineke Dijkstra/Nan Goldin ultimately capturing everyday moments, encourage the viewers to intimately engage with the pictured subjects, and to seek out clues of their personal lives and character, reflecting our own searches for the extra in the ordinary and the thrill in the mundane.