RD15-Sally Mann’s Color Photo

Sally Mann’s Color Photos (Further to Question 4)

After a detailed research into black and white photography, I now have better understanding and knowledge about photography art.

It is not easy to find Sally Mann’s color photos. The majority of her photos are in large black and white print. I had luckily found the belowing two photos during the research. The first one shows little Virginia posing besides trumpet vine, wearing no clothes at all. The other one I remember was titled ” Jessie with big burger”, but unfortunately I forgot to save the website and can not find out the original information. This is the only image in the entire blog that doesn’t have a reference.

Untitled (Virginia with Trumpet Vine), 1991. sourced from: http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/collections/collection-online/show-full/piece/?search=Untitled%20(Virginia%20with%20Trumpet%20Vine)&page=&f=Title&object=2001.204, accessed on 24th Nov 10)

(Jessie Mann and the big burger, websource unknown)

I used photoshop to make the two photos into black and white. It is very obvious how colors changed the sensation of each photo. The colors give the character and background full description and make photos vibrant. The photos in colors are more realistic. But once changed to black and white, the photos are less vibrant. It instantly changed to mysterious but at the same time classic and elegant photos.

I was kind of hoping to see joyful children in color photos. Yet it appeared that the girls are carrying same look like always: sad, serious and even mature. They are not looking at the camera but instead posed like they are into deep thought of something. Something that only themself knows in mind and others don’t.

This is quite disturbing from what most people would expect such as a big simle from the young children’s face. The two photos show Jessie and Virginia who both had sctraches on their bodies. Even the first one which Virginia stands right next to the beautiful vibrant red trumpet vine, the photo still gives the viewer a sad sensation. Now going back to the previous image “Emmet, Jessie & Virginia” which I had been doing the research for couple weeks, I see something in common of all photos.

It is the look of the children. How Sally Mann set up the scene and why the children appeared in nude as well as why the photo was taken in black and white were all looked into briefly. Suposely if she was imitating an old painting from early art, what remains the most interesting is why the children were set up with that kind of look.

In precious research, I had looked into this subject particularly and also come across photo staging. I also looked at other staged photographs by some other famous photographs in order to find out the nature of creative photographs. My research also looked into how Sally Mann created the series in colloboration with her children.

My question remained unsolved regarding the setting up of the photo. Although I now have better understanding of Sally Mann’s work, to understand her world of art, I will definitely need to expand my knowledge in photography art in the future. But one thing for sure, although Sally Mann explained her work in the opening of Immediate family that it was simply because :

“The place is important; the time is summer. It’s any summer, but the place is home and people here are my family.”

It sounds like a book dedicated for her children, that all the photos she make are because the love of her. They were carefully composed as Sally Mann explained herself in an interview :

“We are spinning a story of what it is to grow up. It is a complicated story and sometimes we try to take on the grand themes: anger, love, death, sensuality, and beauty. But we tell it all without fear and without shame.” soureced from: http://www.artic.edu/aic/exhibitions/story/mann.html, accessed on 20 Oct 10 

But the series is not like any other family collection, not something the children will be looking back at and say ” this is what our life was like”. They will obviously experience the story of “growing up” when they grow up. They don’t need to look back photos which shows themself in childhood trying to imitate an adult. To me, the photos Sally Mann took was meant for the public. It is something she produced and determined to show to the others and convey her ideas about childhood.

In Response to Place – Photographs of Sally Mann, from : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJvYxxrLtQg&NR=1, accessed on 26th Nov 10

The video above also mentioned Sally Mann’s first color landscape. For the photos for took for Mexico, Sally Mann spoke in the video that

“I didn’t want them to be bright and garish, you know Kodak colors. I wanted them to be very very soft, you have vibrancy but at the same time timeless, and that is what I am hoping for.”

I would like to go on further research of Sally Mann’s photos. However, with very limited time and a few more last things including critical review to be finished in a few days, I will probably have to stop here.