Arlene Gottfried – Midnight

http://www.bedfordcreativearts.org.uk/big/gal/gal-ex-future.htm

7 OCTOBER - 18 NOVEMBER 2006
During the summer of 1984, American artist Arlene Gottfried met
Midnight, a man who became her close confidant and the subject of her
photography. Gottfried went on to document the next two decades of
Midnight’s life and it is this visual journey of simple yet gripping
portraits that is the basis of this exhibition.

At first, Midnight was a handsome and charming companion who danced and
performed at nightclubs. But as time passed he began to behave in an
increasingly bizarre fashion. Soon after being diagnosed as a paranoid
schizophrenic, years of auditory hallucinations and extreme behaviour
followed. Despite the ongoing cycles of hospitalisation, jail,
counselling, heavy medication, and sudden disappearances, Gottfried
stood by her friend, Midnight.