Nan Goldin wins prestigious MacDowell Medal

Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Photographer Nan Goldin has received the received the prestigious Edwin MacDowell Medal for lifetime achievement in the arts.

Goldin, 58, is known for her photographs of downtown New York in the 1970s and for her use of slideshows. In a statement released Sunday, MacDowell head judge Luc Sante praised Goldin for creating a medium "unto itself, halfway between still photography and cinema."

Previous winners of the MacDowell Medal, founded in 1960, include John Updike, Merce Cunningham and Sonny Rollins. The medal is sponsored by the MacDowell artist colony in Peterborough, N.H.