warning: contains dead things

Sally Mann
American, b.1951

I have long been a fan on Mann's earlier work, which consisted of a highly controversial series of her children. Immediate Family was quickly labeled as "child porn" by some and "luminously beautiful" by others. Mann was unapologetic about photographing her children, who as it turns out, were doing very children like things. Being naked, getting hurt, running around, sleeping, playing. The fact that Mann chose to capture these intimate moments with her family and display them evoked questions of her intentions. Some's concerns were for the children, and others were simply outraged by the use of nude children. Regardless of her woes in the early 90's with this series, Mann has remained true to her work. Now, nearly two decades later, Immediate Family is highly regarded as a poetic and striking portrayal of the family.

In the years following Immediate Family Mann seemed to veer towards a different direction and focus on death and mortality. The question of what a "body" really is, and what happens to that "shell" we spend our lives in after we die fascinated the artist her work work began to illustrate the degradation that comes with death. One could argue that all of Mann's work seems to have an underlying aspect of mortality to them, but this theme became extremely evident when she started photographing dead things of all sorts.

I recommend that everyone see What Remains. It is a beautiful doc about what Mann is currently doing with her work. It also allows her and her children to discuss her earlier work as well as illustrate the Wet Collodion process she uses, which just blows my mind.