Sally Mann, The Perfect Tomato, 1990
Clayton Cubiit reminded me the other day about the Sally Mann HBO documentary “What Remains”, and now I’m really itching to see it. I found myself thinking about Mann all day today. This is the image that always comes to mind. There’s no one better at catching grace, I think.
Recently Subjectify had a brilliant interview with Jessie Mann. Read all 8,000 words, here.
Kudos for updating on the weekend. The web ain’t a M-F~24/7 gig.
wonderful Mann image and a great new look on this new blog. bookmarked for sure.
After a long week of fashion week and a depressing farewell to the Shoot blog, it is nice to see you have started fresh this weekend. Cheers
Just saw this film recently. I went into it admiring, but not being a huge fan of Mann’s work. It’s a pretty great art documentary in how it breaks down the process of her work and the issues and environment that influences it. It has plenty of personal moments that illuminate her process, but without feeling like a reality show. The interviews show her to be an incredibly intelligent artist.
I’m with Wayne, I saw the film a few months ago, and I was really blown away. It was put together to really show the process by which Sally Mann goes about her art. From the history of her early work with her children (and the ensuing controversy) to her devotion to glass plates, to the frustration being a famous and established artist and dealing with galleries. I think it is a wonderful film about an artist and her relationship to her art and her life.
I also agree that “What Remains” is a fantastic documentary. Anytime I feel stuck or in a creative rut, I turn to films like this to see other artists’ creative process. Just seeing how Mann went from series to series and how events of her life inspired her work is enough to get me motivated for my own work. I’m also a huge fan of “Tierney Gearon: The Mother Project” and (on a slightly lighter note) Isaac Mizrahi’s “Unzipped”. Both are definite must-sees.
I own the movie. If you want to borrow it, let me know and I will send it.
It’s worth watching.
If you get Ovation, they’ll be playing What Remains tomorrow night at 8p and 11p (eastern time). The DVD is better, because I think they cut out some of the best scenes, plus it has a great short documentary about Immediate Family.
The Imperfect Tomato?
http://www.jpgmag.com/photos/1016522
Thanks for the tip…I love her photos so I’ll make sure to see this movie.
The problem with Sally’s work is that it just isn’t important in any way. It’s not groundbreaking and it has been done before, many times. Technically she is fine, but the imagery doesn’t find a vision of it’s own. She needs to take the photos of her family and hide out for about 10 years. Her solitude and isolation has given her a very narrow view of the rest of the world and her world is a bit boring.