I chose to review Sally Mann’s photographs because when I was browsing through photographers on google images, I had never seen any of her work before.  At first I was kind of weirded out, but then I looked at more pictures and began to understand a theme.  It made even more sense when I began to research both her personal and professional life.

I decided to focus on Sally Mann’s early career.  Her third collection, Immediate Family, consists of black and white photographs of her young children.  They were very controversial because while some depict innocent themes, others are very raw and made audiences uncomfortable – sometimes even called child pornography.

While this picture could just be portraying a child’s naptime, her pose seems demurely seductive.  The chiaroscuro is this photo made it seem more scandalous to me.  Also in the corner, you can clearly see another person in the bed, shirtless. I think Sally Mann took advantage of lighting and the model’s poses to create an image to evoke these certain shock factor feelings.

This picture shows two young girls – one with a cigarette.  She is clearly too young to smoke and it makes the picture kind of depressing.  Her posture suggests she is way beyond her years, as does her expression.  Lots of Sally Mann’s work features dark themes.  The black and white makes them very dramatic.