Photographer Sally Mann is fascinated by bodies. In the early 1990s, she became famous — or notorious — for her book Immediate Family, which featured photographs of her young children naked. Critics claimed Mann’s work eroticized the children, but Mann says the photos were misinterpreted.
Listen to an interview with Sally Mann on Fresh Air: Making Art Out Of Bodies: Sally Mann Reflects On Life And Photography
In September 1992, I published my third book of photographs, “Immediate Family.” The book contained 60 photographs from a decade-long series of more than 200 pictures of my children, Emmett, Jessie and Virginia, who were about 6, 4 and 1 when I started the project. The photographs show them going about their lives, sometimes without clothing, on our farm tucked into the Virginia hills. For miles in all directions, there was not a breathing soul. When we were on the farm, we were isolated, not just by geography but by the primitive living conditions: no electricity, no running water and, of course, no computer, no phone. Out of a conviction that my lens should remain open to the full scope of their childhood, and with the willing, creative participation of everyone involved, I photographed their triumphs, confusion, harmony and isolation, as well as the hardships that tend to befall children — bruises, vomit, bloody noses, wet beds — all of it.
-Sally Mann
Read Sally Mann’s reflection on Immediate Family: Sally Mann’s Exposure
The original cover story appeared in the magazine on Sept. 27, 1992, and is discussed in an article by Sally Mann in the April 19 issue.
CSU Photo 