Nan Goldin
Nan Goldin, currently 58, is a well known American photographer for her work in the 70's and 80's. Her work surrounds her exotic lifestyle of the time, mainly including drag, gay, lesbian, and drug cultures of the time. Her work entails vivid, honest images that most of the American public is unfamiliar with. While living with this lifestyle she also documents everything that is prominent among those subcultures, her addiction with heroin after using it as a party drug, her recovery, her friends deaths, he friends coping/suffering from AIDS.
These combinations of topics provide captivating images and certain shock value at times to the average American especially for the time era. When Nan photographed it was clear that there was nothing prohibiting or her showing restraint from capturing an image.
http://www.matthewmarks.com/artists/nan-goldin/
http://www.moma.org/collection/artist.php?artist_id=7532