But at the center of the picture's foreground we find what the title promises, a perfect ripe tomato, nearly splitting its skin. The covers are peeled back, and beneath the small naked body is the mild stain of a wet bed. The white comforter is the kind that's tasseled and is decorated all over by knobby little pompoms. And though it's the sort of picture most of us would likely laugh at in company, seen alone, the scene comes across so beautiful and ordinary that I couldn't help being astonished and comforted by its complete shamelessness. But the best pieces in Mann's exhibit are probably a bit of all three.
Life is sad.
Mann, who has been criticized as exploiting the sexuality of her children in her occasional use of them as models for her photographs, would probably agree.