Barbara Nitke

Barbara Nitke is a Lecturer at the School of Visual Arts, teaching photography since 1992. Her artistic practice documents intimate relationships and marginalized communities, with monographs including American Ecstasy (documenting 1980s adult film industry) and Kiss of Fire (exploring BDSM relationships).

Nitke's international exhibitions span galleries and museums including Storage APT (NYC), Museum of Sex (NYC), Leslie-Lohman Museum (NYC), and Finnish Museum of Photography. Her work addresses themes of sexuality, identity, and free expression through humanistic portrayals of porn performers, fetish communities, and constructed narratives. She has actively challenged censorship laws through landmark lawsuits (Nitke v. Ashcroft) defending artistic freedom online.