Sally Mann
Sally Mann is an American photographer renowned for her provocative and often controversial imagery, particularly her photographs of her preadolescent children. Her work, including notable collections like *Immediate Family* (1992) and *Still Time* (1994), features children in various states of undress and poses that some interpret as suggesting precocious sexuality. Set against the backdrop of Appalachia, Mann’s photographs often display a mix of tender and unsettling elements, incorporating themes of innocence, vulnerability, and the complexities of childhood.
While her artistry has been praised for its formal elegance, it has also elicited significant criticism, with some arguing that it contributes to the objectification of children and evokes discomfort through depictions of violence and sexuality. Despite the backlash, including calls for censorship and legal scrutiny, Mann has maintained her artistic vision and continued to explore challenging subjects throughout her career. Her later work has included documenting her husband's battle with muscular dystrophy and photographing decomposition, which have also sparked diverse reactions from audiences. Mann's contributions to contemporary photography have led to her recognition as a prominent figure in the art world, even earning accolades such as "America's best photographer" from *Time* in 2001.
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Sally Mann
Identification: American photographer
Significance: Mann’s photographs of her own nude children contain hints of violence and sexual precocity that have inspired calls for their censorship
Mann’s photographs of her preadolescent children have inspired critical interest and gained notoriety because of their disturbing suggestions of precocious sexuality. Although children have always been her preferred subjects for her photography, their nudity and implied eroticism have frequently caused concern. In published collections of her photographs, such as Immediate Family (1992) and Still Time (1994), Mann has shown her children dressing, swimming, sleeping, and lounging—often in tattered clothes or completely nude. In her best-known photograph, Emmett, Jessie, and Virginia (1989), the three children stare defiantly at the viewer, with an intense awareness that suggests intelligence, belligerence, and sexual provocation. Mann’s photographs have generally been taken in isolated regions of Appalachia, where the presence of aged people and languid pets combine with backdrops of broken toys and rusty cars to hint at a stereotypical view of the Appalachian experience. The presence of blood and bruises on the children in some images imply violence and sexual activity that many viewers find upsetting. Other people, however, admire her photographs for their formal elegance.
Mann’s earliest published photographs seem indebted to Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings and Diane Arbus’ photographs of grotesques, but her eye for elegant composition and unique version of “family values” in her children’s photographs make her artistry distinctive. Their content, however, has inspired calls for their censorship. Conservative critics have demanded an end to National Endowment for the Arts funding of artists such as Mann, whom they link unreflectively with artists such as Robert Mapplethorpe and Jeff Koons.
Mann has also been attacked by those feminists who argue that pornography objectifies women as sexual objects and thus inspires men to commit rape. By this argument, Mann has contributed to the commodification of her children and the general imperilment of women. Although Mann has never been prosecuted for her work, a local district attorney once itemized for her the photographs for which he felt he could legitimately prosecute her. Biographers have acknowledged that Mann's children, after psychological evaluations, did authorize the photographs' release, which Mann had originally intended to show only after they were grown.
Despite negative reactions, Mann's was well received by some, even earning the designation "America's best photographer" from Time in 2001. She has continued to produce provocative, controversial work. Over the course of six years, she documented changes in the body of her husband, Larry, due to muscular dystrophy. In the 2000s, Mann photographed the decomposition of human corpses, a subject matter some found beautiful and others cause for disgust, but surprisingly she was not censured for those images.
Mann later collaborated with playwrights Deborah Salem Smith and Laura Kepley to write Some Things Are Private (2008), a dramatic production of a fictional encounter between Mann and a fan named Thomas Kramer. In their story, Kramer, a recently widowed single father, confronts Mann after seeing Immediate Family. Much of the dialogue is drawn from editorials and public statements made by Mann in defense of her early art.
Bibliography
Boxer, Sarah. "The Maternal Eye of Sally Mann." Atlantic. Atlantic Monthly Group, July–Aug. 2015. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
Jenkins, Tiffany. "Art or Abuse?: A Lament for Lost Innocence." Independent.co.uk. Independent, 23 Oct. 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
Mann, Sally. Hold Still: A Memoir with Photographs. New York: Little, 2015. Print.
McQuaid, Cate. "'Some Things Are Private' Reexamines A Mother's Controversial Photos." Boston Globe. NY Times Co., 10 Feb. 2008. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
Morrison, Blake. "Sally Mann: The Naked and the Dead." Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 28 May 2010. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
Parks, Cara. "Instill Life: The Dark and Light of Sally Mann." New Republic. 14 May 2015. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
Woodward, Richard B. "The Disturbing Photography of Sally Mann." New York Times Magazine. New York Times, 27 Sept. 1992. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.