Sally Mann is an acclaimed American photographer known for her evocative, deeply personal images that explore themes of family, memory, mortality, and the Southern landscape. Mann first gained widespread attention with her controversial series Immediate Family (1992), which featured intimate black-and-white portraits of her children in rural Virginia. The work, praised for its raw beauty and emotional depth, sparked debates about privacy and artistic boundaries.
Born in Lexington, Virginia, Mann studied at Hollins University, where she first developed an interest in photography. Her subsequent work, including series like Deep South (1999) and What Remains (2003), delves into the physical and metaphorical decay of the Southern landscape, often using antique photographic techniques like wet-plate collodion to create hauntingly atmospheric images.
Mann's work has been exhibited at major institutions such as the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Museum of Modern Art, and she has received numerous accolades, including being named “America’s Best Photographer” by Time in 2001. Her memoir, Hold Still (2015), further cemented her place as a profound storyteller, exploring the intersection of art and life in her critically acclaimed career.