CULTURE

The Story of Sally Mann

A look at the photographer’s new memoir.


Sally Mann Hold Still

Sally Mann has shown her deeply personal, often controversial, photography around the world and authored numerous books, including The Flesh and the Spirit, What Remains, Deep South, and Immediate Family. With the publication of Hold Still, a memoir, Mann proves that she’s adept at multimedia storytelling, as well. The book is filled with an incredible emotional archive, spanning from Mann’s contemporary musings to the very foundations of her family going back for generations. She is not afraid to reveal the tragedies that have populated her past, and what results is a strikingly lyrical, at times chilling and problematic, portrait of a life lived in pictures. “It’s not like I set out to write a memoir. In fact, I never thought of doing such a thing!” Mann said. “I never thought I had all that much to say, but it turns out that I did, I hope, about other people far more interesting than me.”

Photos: The Story of Sally Mann

“Hold Still” by Sally Mann. Photo courtesy of the publisher.

“David,” by Sally Mann, 2005. Courtesy of Gagosian Gallery.

“Untitled (#49 Woven Branches 2, Frontispiece),” by Sally Mann, 1998. Courtesy of Gagosian Gallery.

“Semaphore,” by Sally Mann, 2003. Courtesy of Gagosian Gallery.

“Untitled (#30 Swamp Bones),” by Sally Mann, 1998. Courtesy of Gagosian Gallery.

“Untitled (#5 Stone Grave),” by Sally Mann, 1998. Courtesy of Gagosian Gallery.

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