This is @aperturefnd taking over @BOP_Bristol’s Instagram, sharing highlights of photobooks we’ll be featuring at the fair.⁠ ⁠ First published by Aperture in 1986, Nan Goldin’s iconic visual diary, “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency,” chronicles the struggles for intimacy and understanding among her group of friends and lovers.Goldin’s candid, visceral photographs captured a world seething with life—and challenged censorship, disrupted gender stereotypes, and brought crucial visibility and awareness to the AIDS crisis.⁠ Over 35 years later, the influence of “The Ballad” on photography and other aesthetic realms can still be felt, firmly establishing it as a contemporary classic. As Goldin reflects in an updated afterword from Aperture’s 2021 edition: “I took the pictures in this book so that nostalgia could never color my past. I wanted to make a record of my life that nobody could revise.”⁠ Visit us at BOP to see more, or order your copy at aperture.org/fall2022⁠ ⁠ Image: Nan Goldin, Nan and Brian in bed, New York City, 1983, from “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency” © and courtesy the artist