by Sally Mann
First published 2014
Sally Mann captures her children through the lens of her 8 x 10-inch view camera at their summer home in the Virginia woods. The photographs reveal moments of childhood that swing between dependence and the drive for independence. Her children navigate the complex terrain of growing up, experiencing impatience and terror alongside self-discovery and doubt. They role-play and test boundaries while confronting pain and vulnerability. Mann's intimate portraits show her own family's specific story while touching something broader about the nature of childhood itself. The camera catches them in their struggle between holding on to safety and breaking away toward autonomy. These images explore the dramatic tensions that define growing up, from the sense of being invulnerable to the reality of being fragile. The work stands as both a family document and an exploration of childhood's fundamental contradictions.
Genres: biography, family, art, family-life, 20th-century, autobiography, biography-memoir, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: coming-of-age, family-drama, found-family
Setting: Virginia
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
88 pages · Hardcover · Aperture