Sally Mann (b. Lexington, Virginia, 1951)
From 1984 to 1992, Sally Mann photographed her three preadolescent children, Emmett, Jessie, and Virginia, who became subjects in her landmark monograph Immediate Family (1992). The first picture in the series, Damaged Child, 1984, depicts a close-up of Mann’s daughter, Jessie, then two years old. Jessie’s eye is inflamed, opening the image up to interpretations beyond what was strictly depicted: the child’s temporarily “damaged” face, swollen from insect bites. As with Damaged Child, the formally beautiful, velvety gelatin silver prints and color pictures in the portfolio each present several possible readings. In showing her children naked, moody, and in suggestive situations, Mann evokes an edgy, dark side of childhood that can be raw and unsettling.
Mann’s depictions of childhood were shaped by her artistic investigations into identity, gender, sexuality, and archetypes, beginning in the 1960s. The New Mothers, 1989, in the Modern’s permanent collection, shows Mann’s two young daughters barefoot in the grass, posing with baby dolls and pretending to be mothers. At the same time, the girls’ imitative gestures reveal a more cynical side of parenthood; the responsibilities of motherhood aren’t always met with joy, and this photograph summons feelings of dismissiveness. The image of exaggerated child’s play, mimicking the actions of adults, is simultaneously humorous and hard to see.
The artist’s photographs from Immediate Family became ensconced in the culture wars of the late 1980s and 1990s. In the media, some images were presented in isolation from the series, becoming touchstones for moral and political debates about art and censorship. Since then, the knee-jerk controversy has faded. Mann continued this body of work in the series Family Color, 1984–95, photographing her children into their teen years and adding color images to the portfolio, including some that have rarely been seen until now. Four decades on, Mann’s representations of her children still defy viewers’ assumptions, layering truth and fiction in their candid portrayals of childhood.
Sally Mann, Damaged Child, 1984. Gelatin silver print. 20 × 24 inches. Courtesy the Artist and Gagosian. © Sally Mann