Renowned American photographer Sally Mann has released a candid new memoir titled "Art Work," offering intimate insights into her artistic process and expressing deep concern about the world her generation is leaving behind for young people. In a recent interview, the 74-year-old artist, known for her provocative and beautiful photography, shared her thoughts on everything from creative constraints to environmental destruction.
Mann, who lives on her family farm in Virginia, began the conversation by acknowledging the privilege of having a stable place to return to during turbulent times. "I came back last night and pulled into the farm, and it's as though the weight of the world just came off me," she explained. "I'm so lucky to have a place like it. It's so protected, so quiet and private." This connection to place forms both the opening and closing chapters of her new book, which she describes as more conversational than her previous memoir "Hold Still."
The photographer's concern for younger generations permeates throughout her latest work. "We just so badly messed it all up, right?" Mann said, referring to her generation. "We were the generation that had everything – post-World War II, no AIDS, free sex. Our parents were flush with money because it was the 1950s and 1960s, and America was booming. And we just wasted it away, and left the ruin for you guys to clean up." She expressed particular anguish about environmental destruction, noting that her generation "used up all the resources: we've ruined the oceans, the skies, and the land."
"I would hate to be young right now," Mann stated bluntly. "I've got two young daughters, and I feel so sorry for them." This sentiment drives much of her advice in "Art Work," where she attempts to offer guidance to young artists navigating an increasingly complex world. However, she acknowledged the challenges of making political art, especially as a white artist addressing issues of race. "Whenever I try to do something sort of political, it's like the third rail," she admitted.
Mann's creative process involves a unique interplay between photography and writing, which she describes as existing in "a very liminal space." She explained that she often moves effortlessly between seeing and writing: "When I see pictures, I think of words, and when I read words, I think of pictures." This synthesis isn't always smooth, and she noted that when reading fiction, she creates detailed mental scenes, which slows down her reading process.
The photographer emphasized the importance of constraints in her artistic practice, revealing that she deliberately limits her options to avoid paralysis. "Suppose I drove out of my driveway with a car full of camera equipment, with the whole range: view cameras, Collodion, Holgas, Diana cameras, 35mm, digital, black and white. I'd be paralyzed," she explained. Instead, she typically works with one camera and one lens, comparing her condition to abulia, a medical condition involving difficulty making decisions.
Throughout the interview, Mann referenced her relationship with the late artist Cy Twombly, describing him as not only influential but also "very funny," a side of him that many people didn't know. She also discussed the evolution of her photographic style, describing herself as a "hard-nosed pictorialist" and a "gimlet-eyed romantic," someone who insists on having "some edge" even in her more ethereal work.
Mann's organizational habits stem from a fear of falling apart, which she visualized using William Butler Yeats' concept of the gyre. "I always have this feeling that I'm about to fly apart, that I'm just spinning, sort of like a gyre, and pretty soon I'm gonna just start spinning out of control," she said. "What I'm afraid of is that if I don't hang on to everything, it's all just gonna fly apart." This need for organization allows her to maintain what she calls "a wealth of stuff from which to draw."
The memoir includes stories ranging from dealing with problematic neighbors in trailers to profound artistic insights, all delivered in Mann's characteristic conversational style. Unlike her previous book "Hold Still," which originated from formal lectures at Harvard University, "Art Work" was written as if "we'd sat down and made a cocktail, and were just having a conversation together." Mann hopes this approach will make her advice more accessible to young artists, even those immersed in digital and social media culture, though she admits to worrying whether her perspectives might seem outdated to contemporary readers.
