Nan Goldin: You Never Did Anything Wrong

Nan Goldin is one of the most influential photographers of the last fifty years, and You Never Did Anything Wrong at the Hayward Gallery is her first institutional exhibition in the UK since 2002. The show brings together photographs and two films, both titled You Never Did Anything Wrong, at the Southbank Centre in London from 24 November 2026 to 7 March 2027.

The new film work turns away from the people Goldin has photographed for decades and looks instead at nature and animals, a surprising change for an artist known for intimate pictures of her friends and lovers.

About Nan Goldin

Goldin, born in Washington, DC, in 1953, became famous for The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, a slideshow and later a book of photographs of her friends in New York and elsewhere from the 1970s and 1980s. Her colour pictures of parties, relationships, illness and loss changed how documentary and personal photography were understood. In recent years she has also been known for her activism against the opioid crisis, the subject of the documentary All the Beauty and the Bloodshed.

About the Exhibition

The Hayward presents photographs alongside the two new films. For visitors who know Goldin through her portraits, the films offer a different side of her work, while keeping the emotional intensity that runs through everything she makes.

Exhibition Dates

24 November 2026 — Exhibition opens 24 November – 6 December 2026 — Reduced-price opening fortnight 7 March 2027 — Exhibition closes

Why Visit?

Few photographers have had such an impact on younger artists. Goldin showed that a camera can be a diary, that a series of personal pictures can carry political weight, and that colour snapshots can be art. For photographers working in documentary, portrait or personal projects, seeing her work in person, at scale and in sequence, is essential.

Who Should Visit?

• Documentary and portrait photographers
• Photography and film students
• Artists working with personal narrative and diaristic projects
• Anyone interested in the history of contemporary photography

Tickets

The exhibition is ticketed, and Southbank Centre members enter free. During the first two weeks, from 24 November to 6 December, a limited number of £7.50 tickets were offered. Check the Southbank Centre website for current prices and availability.

Opening Hours

The Hayward Gallery is open Tuesday to Friday and Sunday from 10am to 6pm, and Saturday from 10am to 8pm. It is closed on Mondays.

Planning Your Visit

The Hayward Gallery is part of the Southbank Centre on the South Bank of the Thames, a short walk from Waterloo and Embankment stations. Allow time to watch the films in full. The surrounding area has bookshops, cafes and the BFI, making it easy to spend a whole afternoon on photography and film.

Goldin's Influence on Photography

Goldin's way of working, photographing the people closest to her over many years, shaped a whole generation of photographers who make personal, diaristic work. Her slideshows, set to music, showed that the order and rhythm of images can be as important as the images themselves. Seeing her work alongside the new films is a chance to think about how a photographer's practice changes over five decades, and how still and moving images can work together in one exhibition.

Things to Know

• Dates: 24 November 2026 – 7 March 2027.
• First UK institutional show since 2002.
• Films: allow extra time.
• Closed Mondays.

Visit the Exhibition

Planning a visit?

Visit the Hayward Gallery

Tickets and opening hours are on the official Southbank Centre website.

Looking for more to see? Browse all events, festivals and exhibitions on Good Stuff Weekly.

Last verified: October 29, 2026