Immediate Family - Dark Publications

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Similar Items:

•	At Twelve: Portraits of Young Women
•	What Remains
•	Radiant Identities
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•	Jock Sturges: Notes

Customer Reviews: Read 30 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

seminal work May 24, 2005
37 out of 40 found this review helpful

This collection of works is undoubtedly a seminal work for contemporary fine art photography. Sally Mann's print work is without a doubt some of the most competant and breathtaking I have ever seen. Her scenes are rich with subtle tones and almost ethereal luminance that captivates the viewer. I would not be surprised if she is remembered as much for her printing as she is for the controversial subject matter.

The book deals with childhood in a very honest unashamed way. This is problematic for some viewers who think that pictures with children should only portray their happiest moments. This subject matter may not be suitable for the rigid-minded and certainly will be unpleasant for those who believe children, unlike the rest of humanity, can only be presented as cheerful little sprites. The book challanges the viewer and brings up issues of how our cultures representations of female sexuality are interpreted and acted out by young girls. Beyond that it refuses to entertain the idea that nudity in children is necesarily harmful and exploitative. These issues are broached in a beautiful, delicate way. The lives of her children are portrayed honestly and respectfully as she sees them through her lens.

4 out of 5 stars

learn how to review a book September 11, 2005
35 out of 45 found this review helpful

i need to reiterate the point made in a previous review: this is not the place for opinions, personal values, or an ethics discussion. people who read these reviews for the purpose of trying to understand the contents of the book are not interested in these things. this book contains some very well-renowned photographs, an essential for those who already appreciate sally mann's work or are interested in learning about it for the first time. i highly reccommend this along with "At Twelve" for some extremely compelling and powerful documents of photography. Also, whoever thinks these photographs could be taken with a $200 camera has clearly never used one before. These were taken with an 8x10 view camera, which is incredibly difficult to master, as Sally Mann has done, largely without any professional instruction. That comment just demonstrates the reviewer's ignorance about photography in general and does a disservice to anyone reading these reviews seriously. This book is a fine addition to a serious photography collection.

5 out of 5 stars

Opinion vs. Review April 26, 2005
32 out of 46 found this review helpful

I have read a great portion of the reviews here and it seems that a lot of people are inserting their own opinions about the content of the book rather than opinions that contribute to reviewing it. If there's nudity, then mention it. If there's pictures of blood, mention it. But please don't give me your opinions about how you feel about those things because personally, I don't care.

These reviews are meant to help people who are buying this online. People who cannot look through the book themselves first. A review is helpful when a reviewer brings up stuff Amazon may have missed, or mentions who it might be be unnappropriate for and so on.

I don't care about what you think when you look at the photos. I don't care about how you feel about nuditity. I don't care whether you think the kids depicted had a unhappy childhood. I don't even care about how you think Sally Mann photographing her kids in the nude and then publishing it is wrong.

All I want, is to come out of reading these reviews and know if I want to purchase the book or not. NOT, how other people feel about this book because of what it covers. If you bought the book, tell me why. I don't mind someone saying they're a little uneasy about nudity but bought the book anyway. In that case, why? What other things drew you in, to finally buy it? Answers to things like this, are helpful.

So please, reviewers. This is not a place to gush out whatever. There are forums, fan sites, discussion sites, and book clubs for all of that.

Just give me an actual review.

2 out of 5 stars

Maybe It's Just Me... January 29, 2004
20 out of 43 found this review helpful

I viewed this book only once in a store and decided it is not the one for me. Technically Sally Mann is a fine photographer who is obviously at the top of her game. Her subject matter had tremendous potential! But there is one glaring problem: the children do not appear to be enjoying childhood, but appear sad, psychologically disconnected, emotionally abused, rejected, of low self-esteem, unwilling participants as models, and physically battered. There is even one photo a boy with a broken nose and blood all over his chest.

I have seen my share of children get hurt while playing (I saw one small boy fall from a tree, snapping the bones in his forearm). What I saw that day was not a moment of artistic inspiration. Shock value, artistic interpretation of childhood, or whatever the thrust of this book, I cannot see myself ever owning or recommending it. It is too dark, depressing and menacing.

Personally I think plenty of imaginative artistic themes can be produced with happy children who are not busted up or who appear endangered.

I own a copy of the works of Salvador Dali; his art is certainly disturbing...but not like this. I can appreciate Dali's art or even Michael Parkes' and Jan Saudek's, but this publication is too real and too chilling, having grown up in an abusive household myself. I would very much love to see Sally Mann's other works, however, because she is a fine photographer and must surely have a more "light-hearted" production of children's photos. If not, then Sally Mann is best left to those who take pleasure in "dark" art.

I recommend Jock Sturges' work, RADIANT IDENTITIES, instead. Although it is very similar in many regards, his subjects appear to be willing participants, and he has chosen to display a wide variety of emotions, including happiness.

My complaint is not against the nudity. After all, we are born that way; it's just the overall negative imagery of this particular work. It is sad that so many people in our society think that to be imaginative and artful you must also be sinister or immoral. Nudity can be expressed artistically and positively, even with children (remember your own photos of splashing around in the tub or the rubber swimming pool as a toddler?) Even if it's not all up-beat and chipper it does not have to be so overwhelmingly depressing.

4 out of 5 stars

Beautiful, nostalgic, startlingly honest July 20, 1998
18 out of 18 found this review helpful

Sally Mann's "Immediate Family" is startling when you first open it. Not because the children who are so often her subjects are nude much of the time, but because the scenes immediately draw you in and hold you like a feather gripped by a dirty-faced wild child. I grew up in rural Tennessee, and though I didn't have the freedom of the Mann children in some ways,I feel an affinity with them unlike any other children I've seen in these kinds of collections and was instantly transported back to my early years. My favorite pictures are "Crossed Sticks", which perfectly depicts the energy and vitality of childhood, and "Virginia at 3", which inspires both curiosity and empathy in me whenever I see it. I'm glad someone like Sally Mann is out there to portray childhood honestly and fearlessly, and I will treasure this book.

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