Going to this Sally Mann exhibition felt like a trip down memory lane, for as a photographic lecturer I have become so familiar with the images of Jessie, Emmett and Virginia, that it feels more like looking at pictures of my extended family. I’ve read so many essays on the ethereal qualities, captured innocence and deliberate provocation, that I am now incapable of decoding these images, it feels like an argument that has gone on to late into the night, the origins of which have long been lost. This early work of man, Immediate Family, now feels to me like stills from a favourite film, filling me with a warm nostalgic reminiscence for the first time I experienced them.
If you are anything other than completely familiar with this early work of Mann’s, then I urge you to go along and see this show, which remains at The Photographer Gallery, London until Sept 19th.
Also on show are her truly engaging ‘Civil War’ landscapes, entitled, Deep South, these images record significant sites from the war; only in true Mann style, there is a sense of narrative, of a visual journey to be had when looking at these images. They feel like gateways to a story, as if they might open up and allow you to step into the world beyond.
The final series on display is What Remains, a set of images or portraits of decomposing bodies; Mann seems to take the same sensitive, loving approach to these macabre images as she employs when shooting her children at play. Ultimately, despite their beauty, I found it difficult to dwell in this part of the gallery and headed back out for one last moment with Emmitt, Virginia and Jessie.
For more details on this show click here.
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