An Article on Sally Mann on NPR

JohnMeadows

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Nice article! She is one my favourite photographers!
 

Thomas Bertilsson

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Fantastic article. She puts so much of herself into her pictures. It was very interesting to hear her husband's perspective too, and really incredible to understand how she thinks good portraits are made - by sacrifice of the sitter. That profoundly spoke to me.

She's amazing.
 

Whiteymorange

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This was a "driveway moment" for me, as I pulled up to my house in the dusk. I love the way both she and her husband talk about her work in this piece, and the slideshow on the website is great. Thanks for posting it.
 
OP
OP

Mainecoonmaniac

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sandholm

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For me she will only be a sensation photographer that want to shock the world by prostituting her children (and her husband). Cant understand how her husband allow it. Her attempt to photographe "death" either through the body farm or digging up her poor dog and photograph the remains is just sick.

She will never be a great photographer according to me, just a person who try to make herself a name by being as repulsive as possible.

I say as Banksy said about Mr Brainwash (dont get me started about him) "Uhmmm... You know... it was at that point that I realized that maybe Thierry wasn't actually a film maker, and he was maybe just someone with mental problems who happened to have a camera. "

Just replace Thierry with Sally and you are spot on.

According to me she should be serving time for child pornography, period.

cheers
 
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Roger Thoms

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Just can't see the porn aspect. As far as the dog, just don't see what's sick about that either.

Roger
 

sandholm

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perkeleellinen said:
Sadly, every Sally Mann thread goes down this well trodden path and ends up locked.
Click to expand...

No no, dont get it locked, but instead explain why the pictures of her naked underaged children is good photographies, what is it in those that are great? I believe that anyone look at them is just because they are provocative.

Lets look from another perspective, would you be happy to have your kid photographed like this?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3265/2883219316_060c2fc58d.jpg

What is it in this photo that are great? Composition, tonal range? Not really. I believe that she got famous only because these kids are under aged, naked and peeing in fron of the camera, nothing else. If you see something else in these images please explain that.

In the video she compares her really poor results with collodion to Ansel Adams work. In the same sentence she says its just pure luck that she reaches the same level as him. Well, never meet Mr Adams, but from the videos and books I would not say that he left anything to luck, and I doubt that he would even had considered those images with art. Please make an argument why she should be considered a master photographer as Ansel Adams or anyone else at that level.

At Elysee I saw some large format pictures from the serier Motherland, where she used lenses that did not cover the film area and she also completely overused the movements of the camera. http://www.mexicanpictures.com/headingeast/images/sally-mann-deepsouth.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_023w4hdG0iI/ReTmOscKa4I/AAAAAAAABA4/vI0Fiqworys/s400/Mann_DeepSouth-1.jpg
http://artblart.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/sally-mann-virginia-from-the-mother-land-series-1992.jpg

again, I just cant see what is great with these images, what in these images makes her a great photographer?
cheers
 
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perkeleellinen

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sandholm said:
No no, dont get it lock, but instead explain why the pictures of her naked underaged children is good photographies, what is it in those that are great?
Click to expand...

I have no idea, I'm indifferent. But I will say this, Sally Mann is a polarising figure and I think the only way to keep the two sides from bickering is to have one thread for her fans and one for her detractors and never the twain shall meet.
 

mjs

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perkeleellinen said:
I have no idea, I'm indifferent. But I will say this, Sally Mann is a polarising figure and I think the only way to keep the two sides from bickering is to have one thread for her fans and one for her detractors and never the twain shall meet.
Click to expand...

If we do that then no one has the opportunity to change. Living in a cell of one's own construction is a sad way to spend a life. Disagreement is an opportunity to grow: let people discuss and disagree, noisily if necessary. If it gets to be too much for some, they don't have to click on the thread.

Mike
 

perkeleellinen

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I don't think anyone wants to change when discussing the moral maze of Sally Mann's work. It's love or hate. Two ossified positions thrashing it out. Hence the inevitable thread lock.
 

Hikari

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Actually, she didn't. She used the example of Ansel as a complete counterpoint to what she does, which is an antithesis to technical perfection.

Nothing but history will place her in what significance she has in photography. Your feelings and arguments have no influence in that.
 

arpinum

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It is hard to judge Mann when so much of her published work relies of fortuitous circumstances and experimentation. I wish she would edit more of her work. That said, I plan on buying a print of Candy Cigarette when I have the funds.
 

Andrew Horodysky

Thanks for the article. I saw her last show at Gogosian.
 
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