cover image Sally Mann: A Thousand Crossings

Sally Mann: A Thousand Crossings

Sally Mann. Abrams, $55 (320p) ISBN 978-1-4197-2903-4

More than 100 of Mann’s photographs, including some previously unpublished, are gathered in this richly illustrated retrospective monograph, with accompanying essays from critics and academics. The work affirms Mann’s reputation as one of the most influential and provocative photographers of the past several decades. Mann, an accomplished memoirist in both words (Hold Still) and images (Immediate Family), skillfully captures the essence of the American South, where she was born and still lives, with photos of Civil War battlefields and Baptist churches, Gothic landscapes and haunting portraits of black men identified only by first names. Mann began her career 40 years ago with intimate and sometimes controversial photos of her three children during their “free-range childhood,” when they often romped naked at the family’s Virginia farm; many of these photos are featured in the book. The most moving images are of her husband, Larry, his body deteriorating due to muscular dystrophy. In one of the essays, cultural critic Hilton Als writes that the portraits and landscapes of Mann’s homeland with “its terrible history and epic natural beauty” require viewers to ask, “When will the South stop being the South?” This is an impressive companion to the National Gallery of Art’s current exhibit of Mann’s work, infused with memory, history, culture, identity, and race, and it serves as a fitting tribute to an artist with both an extraordinary mind and an exceptional eye. [em](Mar.) [/em]