Sally Mann is a woman who created her own story through photographs that depict her children growing up from the years of 1984-1991 within a title called Immediate Family. Mann created these photos of her children as they grew up on their family farm. The shocking thing about this group of photos is that in most of them her children are naked or are involved risque events. Many people are split right down the middle to if they believe her photos are good or bad depictions for her children.
Mann would take photos of her children just playing and going throughout their day. Some of the photos Mann took would present the children getting down and dirty like normal kids would do and others would depict the children acting as adults like the one photos of Mann's daughter holding a candy cigarette and standing with her arms crossed.
I believe Sally Mann was in the right for photographing her own kids and when they are naked. I believe this because Mann was doing so on her families privately owned farm that the kids ran around naked anyways. This is okay because the kids were already running around naked not like Mann would let them do it public or like she asked them to take their clothes off. I also believe she was in the right because she would not take the photos if the kids did not want her to. She respects their privacy and I think that’s one of the biggest reasons as to why Mann was okay for taking the children’s photos when nude because she would respect and would not take them if the children did not agree. I also believe this because when Sally’s work was postered in the Houk Friedman Gallery, her kids joined along to view the beautiful masterpieces and were not showing any signs of feeling uncomfortable with the photos. As the New York Times says, “All three seemed unconcerned by the fact that on the surrounding white walls they could be examined, up close, totally nude.” As the quote says, all of the children went about the exhibit without showing signs of not being okay with the photos.
As another magazine Vogue says “Did I wish I could snatch them back and bundle them back into the film boxes and never have put them out? Not really.” Looking at Immediate Family again now, I am glad. Not because that means I have pictures of her children, but because that means I have a picture of myself.” Mann creates her work for herself and her children, she creates these pieces for the family to look back and remember the memories and also depict a time of life as they grew up
Overall, in my own believing i think that since the children have not spoken bad, were able to say not to photograph themselves and was on private property I believe that Mann is in the right for have taken these risque photographs of her children.
Works cited
“The Disturbing Photography of Sally Mann.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 Jan. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2015/04/19/magazine/the-disturbing-photography-of-sally-mann.html.
Bengal, Rebecca. “After Sally Mann's Memoir, a New Look at Her Most Famous Photographs.” Vogue, Vogue, 1 Feb. 2017, www.vogue.com/article/sally-mann-immediate-family-reissue-memoir-hold-still.
No comments:
Post a Comment