Topic: Sally Mann

[hookstrapped]

She wrote a piece in the NY Times about the reaction and aftermath of her book of photos of her children.  I think Mike at the Online Photographer frames it well.
 
http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2015/04/the-sally-mann-article.html

[imagesfrugales]

I didn't know much about Sally Mann, thanks for the link. Her NYT article is worth to read for sure.

[FrankE]

She is an excellent photographer and I really like her work. Over the years I have picked up two of her books (during my used book store prowling…)
both "Immediate Family" and "At Twelve". Amazing the type of "people photography" she does with an 8x10 view camera, she has a lot of talent. There is no doubt in my mind that she deserves the recognition which she has received. And yes there is a "but" coming. If you read some of the comments posted on the "On Line Photographers" blog I have to agree with them. She may be very intelligent and skilled artistically but is/was somewhat naive about not anticipating that these images would provoke the reaction they did.

With regards to her later work such as the book "What Remains" which I have perused in book stores, it speaks to her creativity and the ability to switch gears photographically, but the imagery does not appeal to me as much as her earlier work such as the two books I mentioned above.

[hookstrapped]

I suppose all art is about people bringing their life experiences to bear and projecting them onto the art, along with their biases, prejudices, and insights.  In other words, I think the criticisms say a lot more about the critics than they do about the work.  It's rare that we get such a clear reflection to look at.