| American photographer Date of Birth: 01.05.1951 Country: USA |
Sally Mann, born in 1951 in Lexington, Virginia, is an American photographer. She was the third child and only daughter of Robert S. Munger, a practicing doctor, and Elizabeth Evans Munger, who owned a bookstore at Washington and Lee University in Lexington.
Sally Mann attended The Putney School, a prestigious school, and graduated in 1969. She then went on to study at several colleges before earning a Bachelor's degree in literature from Hollins College (now Hollins University) in 1974. She continued her studies and obtained a Master's degree in literature the following year.
Upon returning to Virginia, Mann began pursuing her passion for photography more actively. She had always been interested in photography and spent a lot of time in her darkroom since her teenage years. Her early photographs primarily featured her friends, often of the opposite sex, in various poses, including nudity.
In 1988, Mann released a controversial photo album titled "At Twelve: Portraits of Young Women," which focused on adolescent girls. The album sparked a heated debate, with critics accusing Mann of creating child pornography. However, Mann defended her work, stating that the images were innocent and that any perceived eroticism was a result of the viewer's interpretation.
In 1992, Mann released another album called "Immediate Family," which featured her own family, including her three children and husband, often in semi-nude or completely nude poses. This project also faced criticism and accusations of veiled child pornography.
Despite the controversy surrounding her work, Mann received recognition for her photography. In 2001, she was named "Photographer of the Year" by Time magazine. Her images often evoke the charm of the Victorian era, but the presence of naked children prevents them from being solely perceived as art.
Mann continued to create thought-provoking projects throughout her career. In 2004, she exhibited a collection titled "What Remains" at the Corcoran Museum in Washington. The exhibition featured nearly 100 works, including decaying corpses, gothic landscapes, and beautiful girls. The project concluded with photographs of Mann's own children. The public reaction to the exhibition was polarized, with some feeling repulsed by the images and others admiring them.
She has also worked on more conventional projects, such as her landscape book "Deep South" published in 2005. In her recent work, she explored the muscle atrophy suffered by her husband, resulting in the publication of the album "Marital Trust" in 2009, featuring intimate photographs of her husband's condition.
Mann's work has received numerous awards, and she has been the subject of several documentaries. She is considered one of the most significant contemporary American photographers. Sally Mann has authored eight books, each accompanied by personal exhibitions. She has received the "National Endowment for the Arts" award and the "John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship." In 2006, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Corcoran College of Art and Design.