Sally Mann PDF

Sally Mann's time capsule.

by Yana Shtilman

Sally Mann's works have a reputation of being disturbing due to their controversial

subjects such as, for instance, children nudity (Immediate Family, 1992) or the dead
bodies (What remains; Body Farm, 2001). One of her artistic goals is, as it is mentioned by
John B. Ravenal in his book about Mann the Flesh and the Spirit (2010): "to record what
lies beyond vision". In this analysis, I will mention her several portraits of the children from
the Immediate Family series, but mostly I will focus on Mann's portraits of her son
Emmett: The Last Time Emmett Modeled Nude, (1987) and Emmett Floating at Camp,
(1991).
Throughout her photography, Mann expresses her preoccupation with a human body;
nevertheless there were many other US photographers who worked in similar stylistic, she
stood out as her idea was not the search of the perfection (like in Robert Mapplethorpe's
case) or the representation of the human anomalies (as Diane Arts did) but the caption of
the trace of time and of the fragile nature of our bodies. In her several pictures from the
Immediate Family series (Dog Scratches, (1991), Damaged child (1984); Jessie's Cut
(1985), etc.) she shows another vision of the childhood which goes against polished and
happy depictions of children we used to see before. She mixes "the innocence of
childhood1" with the dark sides of life such as physical injuries, sexuality and death; by
doing this she had her artistic breakthrough2. The subject of the inevitable children
wounds, to which she devoted several pictures, may be regarded as an initiation - which
means that although these injuries are painful, the children have to go through them to
become adults. Same idea may partly be seen in Mann's nude depictions of her
oﬀsprings, where one particular stands out: The Last Time Emmett Modeled Nude,
1Ravenal, J., Levi Strauss, D. and Wilkes Tucker, A. (2010). Sally Mann. New York, N.Y.: Aperture
Foundation. p.1
2 Ibid, p. 2
(1987). The black and white image shows her 8 years-old son who, if we believe the
caption, decided that now he was too grown-up to pose without clothes. In the picture,
the boy stands naked in the center, half in the water; he seems to move away from the
camera but the image is still very sharp. The nature serves as a background but the trees
are hardly distinctive as they are presented as a black mass behind. In the picture, Mann
plays with the reflection by creating mise-en-abyme: the forest is reflected in the river.
However, there is no reflection of Emmett. The water here may be seen as a symbol of
time which flows the same way and the prevailing color black may serve as the artist's
sad declamation of this fact. From Mann's part as a parent she probably wishes her
children to never grow up and always be nearby her and from Emmett's part, he might
feel rebellious against his parent what he shows by his determined pose and his defiant
look. The desire of self-determination by denying the authority of the parent in
psychoanalysis is considered as an important part of becoming an adult; this idea makes
this portrait to be a logical continuation of Mann's series.
Mann plays with allusions on religion in her Immediate Family series a lot. Such intention
is understandable as the farm where her family lived reminded some sort of paradise: the
abundance of nature, a flowing river, simple life in a wooden house and children who were
allowed to be naked most of the time and were not aware of the shame. Mann makes
references on christian iconography in several ways: in some pictures she experiments
with camera's exposure and light to highlight the model as if she is an angel (Hayhook,
(1989); The Perfect Tomato, (1990); in others, she copies the famous biblical narratives
such as dying Jesus Christ in Mary's arms, for example, in Last Light, (1990) and in
Emmett Floating at Camp, (1991), on which I am going to focus. In this image, the boy is
lying on someone's arms in the water while covered in a towel. Emmett looks vulnerable
and seems to trust completely to a person who holds him, yet, we do not see his or her
face. The photographs is not a close-up, the water occupies the top of the image what
creates an eﬀect as if the boy is levitating in the air. Nevertheless, Emmett is relaxed,
there is some disturbance: with the religious narrative in the background, he might be
considered to be dead. Regarding Emmett's early death (he committed a suicide in 2016),
this image may be considered prophetic.
To sum up, the two regarded portraits of Mann's son Emmett may serve as a good
example of main ideas behind Immediate Family: the new approach of depicting
childhood, the temporality aspect and the study of the human body. Multiple cultural
references in the photographs help to frame a story and make it universal. The two
depiction selected here stand out from others because of Emmett's tragic fate and in this
sense they can have a new reading nowadays after his death.
Figure 1. The Last Time Emmett
Modeled Nude, (1987)
Figure 2. Emmett Floating at Camp,
(1991)

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Sally Mann's time capsule.

look. The desire of self-determination by denying the authority of the parent in

psychoanalysis is considered as an important part of becoming an adult; this idea makes

this portrait to be a logical continuation of Mann's series.

references on christian iconography in several ways: in some pictures she experiments

this image may be considered prophetic.

Figure 1. The Last Time Emmett

Modeled Nude, (1987)

Figure 2. Emmett Floating at Camp,

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