Sally Mann: The Flesh and The Spirit
Few photographers are as unapologetically poetic, or as confrontational, as Sally Mann. Notorious for portraying her children in various states of undress, Ms. Mann takes a long look at herself in her new book. "Sally Mann: The Flesh and the Spirit" features dozens of recent self-portraits, nude figure studies of her husband, and some "C.S.I."-like images from a visit to a "body farm" in Tennessee, where forensic scientists are trained. She has lately been coating her negatives with collodion, and the cracking and dripping that this antiquated wet process is prone to has only enhanced her death-suffused romanticism. --Richard Woodward, Wall Street Journal, December 16, 2010"As a whole, the book underscores Mann's commitment to following her personal, local interests, unafraid if she runs headlong into taboos. Placed in the larger context of contemporary attitudes toward ageing, illness, death and innocence her images tug at deep-seated contradictions we do not wish to acknowledge. Her gift is that she imbues them with a beauty that knocks the wind from your belly." --The Telegraph, Lucy Davies, 25-Nov-10"The work is more like a series of question marks as Mann interrogates the perpetual failure of photographic representation in its quest for literal truths. The suggestion here is that only the most profound abstract metaphors even begin to scratch at the surface when the topic is enduring love." --THE Magazine, Dec/Jan-10"Few photographers are as unapologetically poetic, or as confrontational, as Sally Mann. Notorious for portraying her children in various states of undress, Ms. Mann takes a long look at herself in her new book, `Sally Mann: The Flesh and the Spirit' features dozens of recent self-portraits, nude figure studies of her husband, and some "C.S.I."- like images from a visit to a "body farm" in Tennessee, where forensic scientists are trained. She has lately been coating her negatives with collodion, and the cracking and dripping that this antiquated wet process is prone to has only enhanced her death-suffused romanticism." --The Wall Street Journal, Richard B. Woodward, 17-Dec-10