Sally Mann is an American photographer best known for her controversial photographs of her children. Mann captures portraits of her children in a photo series called ‘Immediate Family’. In the pictures her children can be seen in quite unusual circumstances for young children, some naked or smoking or with a bloody nose. Sally uses these black and white photos to reflect the childhood of her 3 children through photos taken in Virginia which is where the children and Sally grew up. In Sallys eyes she was photographing portraits of her children however critics claimed that her photos were ‘child pornography’ and reflected her as an irresponsible mother but photographing her children allowed Sally to be at home with her children and allowed them to be involved in her work.

Copyright © Sally Mann. All Rights Reserved.

I really like these images and the way they are presented. I find each image to be though provoking and a real reflection of the sense of place she feels within her family and as a mother. I Like the way she incorporates the sense of home into her pictures, photographing  in rural part of Virginia which is also where her childhood was reinforcing that sense of home in the series. I plan to use similar ideas in my final portfolio, picturing portraits of my family members going about their natural day and capturing them in and amongst our home.