First name / friend I hope you're ready for this email.You know, I'm a creative and the art world is a male-dominated world. With every passing moment I spend in the industry and digging deeper Nashville's art scene, it becomes more apparent. There are so many gaps and voices missing, I decided to embark on a journey of finding, researching and studying female photographers across history. Turns out, there's quite a lot of us. The awareness began in Summer 2020 when I read Hold Still. My husband had read it and convinced me it was something I'd enjoy. He was right.I knew very little of Mann's work. Outside of her Immediate Family controversy, I knew nothing. The autobiography had it all—murder-mystery, young love, true artistry and a conviction to hold a camera at all times—all set to the landscape of Virginia. Gotta love the South right? Her work griped me and it changed me.Fast forward 2 years later, I wanted to dig into her work again. What fascinates me about her is her willingness to live among complexities.She doesn't try to find meaning, it's already there for her. Instead, she wrestles with it head on while carrying a large format camera.Her process is quite old, using chemicals and heavy equipment to create hunting imagery that invites introspection. |
|
Let's get closer.
Inspired by Sally Mann's Faces, photograph someone (or yourself) up close.
I'll be experimenting with this using macro filters but even a phone shot will do.
Don't overthink it, just snap and move on. Crop it tight. Tighter.
Tag me/Send it to me if you like. I love to see your take on it.
|
|
Sally Mann wrestled with the complexity of growing up in the South.
The following video includes photographs of Virginia Carter, the African American woman who had served as Mann’s primary caregiver. A defining and beloved presence in Mann's life, Carter taught Mann the profoundly complicated and charged nature of race relations in the South.
This 13 min video is accompanied in gallery by Mann’s photographs which imagine the physical and spiritual pathways for African Americans in antebellum and post-Civil War Virginia: the rivers and swamps that were potential escape routes for enslaved individuals and the churches that promised safe harbor, communion, and spiritual deliverance: |
|
Want to see more of Sally Mann? What Remains follows unbridled access to the many stages of Mann’s work, also available in Kanopy. Blood Ties gives you a glimpse into making Immediate Family and the collaboration with her children. Vinculum is short video that makes it feel like you're casually conversing with Mann. |
|
You like this sort of stuff?
Tell me. I want to keep this space sacred. |
|
Feeling the urge to support me? Buy me a Ko-fi. It's basically if Etsy + Patreon had a baby! All educational content will reside there, as well as behind the scenes stuff for creatives/photographers. Client Session Journal + Notecards are available now. |
|
|
