BARBARA NITKE

ARTIST STATEMENT:

I photograph exotic people who have fearlessly lived their lives. They are usually a little banged up, but that’s what I love about them. My work has taken me from hardcore porn sets to the BDSM world, the fashion world, and into a seedy motel room. Over time I’ve shifted from classic fly-on-the-wall documentary to constructing and directing my own stories. But my focus is always the same – to make an intimate connection with each person I photograph. My images humanize sex workers and other people who live on the edges of society. I want to erase the boundaries between us and them. 

Bio:

Barbara Nitke is a New York photographer, best known for her exploration of intimate relationships. Her recent series, The Luxe Motel, consists of constructed narratives exploring anxiety and desolation in the inhabitants of a low rent motel. She has shown her work extensively and published two monographs, Kiss of Fire and American Ecstasy. She has been on the faculty of the School of Visual Arts since 1992. She is currently developing a feature film about a young woman navigating the twilight years of the Golden Age of Porn.