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Sally Mann Summary

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Sally Mann was born in Lexington, Virginia in 1951. One of her first series was ‘Immediate Family’ (1984-1991) and gained the most attention due to her intimate pictures of her children. Many use the term ‘erotic’ when referring to the pictures of her children, but she prefers the less sexual term, ‘sensual.’ She likes to play with the inherent truth associated with a photograph and the fiction she created.

The Wall Street Journal censored Virginia Mann (Sally’s youngest daughter) by blocking out her eyes, breasts, and vagina. Virginia wrote back to the newspaper expressing her disappointment with the newspaper. This is an example of how many ridiculed Mann for her exploitation of her children for art. Many believe this is child abuse and enabling child pornography. Although people wanted to see Mann be pursued by the Government, she never was, although people wondered: Can her children really give consent at this age or to the photographer who is a parent? During one of her shows, a popular evangelist rallied many of his supporters against her. It all dissolved, but that was/is one of her biggest fears.

Sally Mann’s work addresses the touchy issues of death, aging, memory, and mortality. She has many different types of photographs, one of which is the ambrotypes. They consist of wet plate negatives set against black glass to appear as positives. These plates are prone to many accidents that many think can ruin a piece, but Mann accepts them, calling them “happy accidents.”

On December 8th, 2000, a prisoner escaped onto the Manns’ farm and there was a shoot-out between him and the police. It ended when the convict shot himself in the head. After the fact, Mann took photos of the area and the spot was permanently changed in her mind. Mann said about the area, as well as battle fields, “Earth doesn’t care where people die…but it’s the artist that carries the meaning to the earth.” This was the beginning of taking pictures of the occurrence of death/post-mortem. She began taking photos of her dead dog’s bones (Eva) and she had to ask herself, “When does it stop becoming Eva?” She also was granted access to a forensic study facility where they study the decay/decomposition of human bodies.

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