Status
Available
Publication
Little, Brown and Company (2015), Edition: 1st Edition, 496 pages
Description
Biography & Autobiography. Nonfiction. HTML: A revealing and beautifully written memoir and family history from acclaimed photographer Sally Mann In this groundbreaking book, a unique interplay of narrative and image, Mann's preoccupation with family, race, mortality, and the storied landscape of the American South are revealed as almost genetically predetermined, written into her DNA by the family history that precedes her. Sorting through boxes of family papers and yellowed photographs, she finds more than she bargained for: "deceit and scandal, alcohol, domestic abuse, car crashes, bogeymen, clandestine affairs, dearly loved and disputed family land...racial complications, vast sums of money made and lost, the return of the prodigal son, and maybe even bloody murder." In lyrical prose and startlingly revealing photographs, she crafts a totally original form of personal history that has the page-turning drama of a great novel but is firmly rooted in the fertile soil of her own life..… (more)
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User reviews
LibraryThing member john.cooper
Sally Mann is an awe-inspiring photographer (and to those who aren't familiar with her work, I recommend the documentary "What Remains: The Life and Work of Sally Mann," available via Netflix). Here she tells the story of her family, their enormous and historic farm in Virginia, and her work to
The publisher (Little, Brown) has done right by the author and her work, producing the hardbound edition with proper attention to design and materials. The book has heft, but it's not too big to hold comfortably. It's a pleasure to have it in one's hands and to turn and scan the pages. This is such a rarity nowadays that it's worth mentioning.
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date, in words and in photographs (both snapshots and artworks). It's a much deeper and more engagingly philosophical work than it has any right to be. It's not a quick read; it rewards thought. It takes you to places you may not have expected to go. It's hard to describe Mann's particular genius in a way that will have universal resonance, but I will say that she is an enigma—warm but remote, emotional but always through a dispassionate lens of intellect. Like many great artists, she leaves you looking at the world in a different, somewhat heightened way.The publisher (Little, Brown) has done right by the author and her work, producing the hardbound edition with proper attention to design and materials. The book has heft, but it's not too big to hold comfortably. It's a pleasure to have it in one's hands and to turn and scan the pages. This is such a rarity nowadays that it's worth mentioning.
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LibraryThing member muddyboy
A unique and thought provoking autobiography about a controversial (at times) photographer, Sally Mann. She has always been a free spirit rejecting clothing as a youth until she is absolutely forced to wear them. Her photographs have caused criticism as she has many times used her own children
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(also sometimes nude) in a series of studies and also a group of photos of decomposing bodies at a place called the "body farm" where people chose to go back to nature laying atop the ground. This is not to mention her interesting parents and in laws who we learn about. The photos are wonderful but the story behind them is equally compelling. Show Less
LibraryThing member bobbieharv
A memoir in photographs. I was given the hard copy for Christmas, but I wish I'd read it on my iPad (assuming the quality of the photographs would be better, but maybe not. Even online they're quite dark and hard to make out).
Loved this book in the beginning, especially the part about her husband's
Loved this book in the beginning, especially the part about her husband's
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parents murder suicide! The rest was interesting, but somewhat tedious in its accounts of the lives of all her forbears. I'm not enough of a serious photographer to appreciate all the technical and artistic details, which also became a bit tedious for me, but those who are should love it. Show Less
LibraryThing member omgully
I read this book for a class I'm in, but I'm glad she made us read it. Hold Still is a memoir written by the vivacious and famed photographer Sally Mann. She respectfully writes about her Southern heritage, racism, slavery, love, life, and death, and she gives us her thoughts on what photography
This book should be read by photography enthusiasts, students, and fans. Hold Still should also be read by anyone who likes to read well-written books. Nearing 500 pages, reading this book may seem intimidating to some, but its pages are filled with beautiful prose and photographs that surely will not fade from your memory anytime soon. The determined reader could finish this book in one sitting. I personally read it in about three days due to the holidays, but I did read a majority of it in one.
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means to her. Mann also spends much time pondering why she was the attention-seeking, rebellious teenager who grew up to be the attention-seeking adult who was always trying to please Daddy. I don't intend to use that against her. Conversely, it's her spirit of rebellion that motivates her, in my lowly opinion, to make such wonderful yet controversial photographs. Her life has been filled with regret, pain, heartache, and hardship, but it has also been filled with joy. This book should be read by photography enthusiasts, students, and fans. Hold Still should also be read by anyone who likes to read well-written books. Nearing 500 pages, reading this book may seem intimidating to some, but its pages are filled with beautiful prose and photographs that surely will not fade from your memory anytime soon. The determined reader could finish this book in one sitting. I personally read it in about three days due to the holidays, but I did read a majority of it in one.
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LibraryThing member nmele
Just guessing, but this memoir may not find favor with everyone who tries to read it. I admire Mann's honesty, enjoy her sense of humor, and ponder her reflections on art, death, and her own photographs. She does not shy from controversy, such as the now almost forgotten media shitstorm over her
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photos of her children in the nineties. Mann does not whitewash her errors and flaws, nor those of her family. Her portraits of her parents and grandparents feel heartfelt and real, and the many photographs both complement and embellish her words. Show Less
LibraryThing member KimSalyers
this is a good and interesting book
LibraryThing member KimSalyers
this is a good and interesting book
LibraryThing member hardlyhardy
Photographer Sally Mann won both fame (or was it infamy?) and fortune with the publication in 1992 of “Immediate Family,” which included many photographs of her naked children. More recently (2015) she won a measure of literary fame with her excellent book “Hold Still,” a memoir filled with
Over her creative life, Mann (now in her 70s) has moved from one major project to another, each taking several years. After photographing her young children, she moved on to landscapes, then black men. Later she focused her camera on dead bodies. If you think you are shocked by her nude children, wait until you get to the chapter showing photos of decaying corpses.
Mann describes herself as a rebellious child who refused to wear clothes and, when forced to put them on, refused to take them off, wearing them until they became filthy rags. She offers photos taken by her parents to prove both points. The rebellion continued into college and, indeed, until her marriage to Larry Mann. When they had children of their own, clothing was optional on their isolated farm, and neither she nor her children saw anything wrong with her photographs. Thus she says she was amazed when much of the reaction to “Immediate Family” was negative. It even led to stalkers and fears for her life. Yet the book continued to sell for years. The public, shocked or not, wanted to own her book.
She writes not just about her own life but about the lives of her parents and grandparents, and about Larry's parents, as well. These details, mostly discovered in attic trunks and supported by old photos also found there, are much more interesting than you might think. Her father, for example, was a physician, yet his abiding passions were art and death, usually art about death. Mann, when she got to the point in her career where she found herself photographing corpses, realized she had much more in common with her father than she once thought. "Am I suggesting here that I was born to redeem my father's lost artistic vision, the child destined to make the art that he was unable to make ...?," she asks. "Maybe I am, and maybe I was. God knows I have tried."
Mann returns again and again to her thoughts about the power and legitimacy of photographic art. At one point she describes photography as "an invasive act, a one-sided exercise of power, the implications of which, when considered in historical perspective, are unsettling." She is speaking here about her pictures of black men, but the words can apply as well to those of her children.
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photographs taken by her and members of her family.Over her creative life, Mann (now in her 70s) has moved from one major project to another, each taking several years. After photographing her young children, she moved on to landscapes, then black men. Later she focused her camera on dead bodies. If you think you are shocked by her nude children, wait until you get to the chapter showing photos of decaying corpses.
Mann describes herself as a rebellious child who refused to wear clothes and, when forced to put them on, refused to take them off, wearing them until they became filthy rags. She offers photos taken by her parents to prove both points. The rebellion continued into college and, indeed, until her marriage to Larry Mann. When they had children of their own, clothing was optional on their isolated farm, and neither she nor her children saw anything wrong with her photographs. Thus she says she was amazed when much of the reaction to “Immediate Family” was negative. It even led to stalkers and fears for her life. Yet the book continued to sell for years. The public, shocked or not, wanted to own her book.
She writes not just about her own life but about the lives of her parents and grandparents, and about Larry's parents, as well. These details, mostly discovered in attic trunks and supported by old photos also found there, are much more interesting than you might think. Her father, for example, was a physician, yet his abiding passions were art and death, usually art about death. Mann, when she got to the point in her career where she found herself photographing corpses, realized she had much more in common with her father than she once thought. "Am I suggesting here that I was born to redeem my father's lost artistic vision, the child destined to make the art that he was unable to make ...?," she asks. "Maybe I am, and maybe I was. God knows I have tried."
Mann returns again and again to her thoughts about the power and legitimacy of photographic art. At one point she describes photography as "an invasive act, a one-sided exercise of power, the implications of which, when considered in historical perspective, are unsettling." She is speaking here about her pictures of black men, but the words can apply as well to those of her children.
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LibraryThing member pivic
This book is a dreamy kind of autobiography. Mann writes of childhood, adolescence with a piercing, yet slow eye, while delving into her starting out as a photographer with an acute sense of self-examination. Her handling of the whole thing where she was accused of being a paedophile, someone who
All in all, a good book on growing up, including sexuality, love, dislikes and work. Grew a bit tedious towards the end, but then, don't some of us?
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used her kids to sell pictures without a care in the world for them, is really well-handled, I feel.All in all, a good book on growing up, including sexuality, love, dislikes and work. Grew a bit tedious towards the end, but then, don't some of us?
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LibraryThing member jphamilton
"Hold Still" by photographer Sally Mann is simply so f***ing good. She gets into so much about her art and life, family, the silly controversy about the photos of her kids, race relations from a southern perspective (with black Nannie and all that), her own and her father’s obsession with death.
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The entire section on the totally surreal Body Farm at the University of Tennessee, where they leave bodies outside and study the decay. Of course, she went to photograph them. Oh, and her father's suicide from pills (he was a doctor) where the family sat around and watched him die on the living room couch. She is just so frank and straightforward about most everything. About five hundred pages of excellent writing and photos, AND no bullshit. My one-sentence review would be: I loved everything about this book. Show Less
LibraryThing member KittyCunningham
This is a lovely memoir about family and photography.
LibraryThing member baswood
I was not familiar with Sally Mann's photographs when I started her book, which is a sort of autobiography. She is an American Photographer who has published a number of books featuring her large format black and white photographs. Her preferred subjects are her immediate surroundings, her family,
An autobiography can easily become a platform for self aggrandisement and when I started Sally Mann's book I was very much aware that the author was writing about herself, however by the time I got to the end I felt that she had presented a rounded and believable portrait. The book is subtitled a memoir with photographs and there are plenty of her striking pictures on display which are integrated smoothly with her text. Various themes emerge from the book, helped by the fact that it is not set out chronologically and these are: family life, the culture of living in a confederate state, racism, her ancestry, photography and making pictures, landscape, horses and the art of seeing. There is also a portrait of Cy Twombly an important painter and sculptor who lived quite nearby.
There are a number of chapters on her family which have provided much of the inspiration for her work as a photographer. She and her husband chose to live on a farm by the river which enjoyed an isolated position and so the children were able to run free, just as Sally had done when she was a child. The pictures that caused the controversy were her pictures of her naked children. Her argument was that she was taking pictures of the children in their natural surroundings, however she was using a large format camera and so the children had to be posed: remember the title of her book "Hold Still". At the time when child pornography was being discussed and adolescent girls were being used in fashion photography, it is not surprising that Mann's photographs caused a bit of a furore.
Sally Mann had a black nurse which was quite usual for Southern white families with money. She looks back with a kind of horror that this was an accepted practice. She loved her black nurse/nanny and she is pretty sure that that love was returned, there is nothing that she can do now, but lament on the situation now that she understands the difficulties that her nurse faced during the years of segregation. Her thoughts come close to a baring of the soul and she does a similar thing with regard to the photographs she makes of people:
"It’s a tricky moment: taking the picture is an invasive act, a one-sided exercise of power, the implications of which, when considered in historical perspective, are unsettling. Photography is always invasive, but these experiences are consensual and, in the best hours, transcendent. I have had men, complete strangers, trust me enough to offer up physical characteristics about which they were sensitive—missing digits, scabby, eczema-ridden backs, surgical scars—with no prompting and no embarrassment in the quiet afternoon light of my studio deck."............
Exploitation lies at the root of every great portrait, and all of us know it. Even the simplest picture of another person is ethically complex, and the ambitious photographer, no matter how sincere, is compromised right from the git-go."
Her passion for making photographs and of working flat out to make great art comes across in her writing. Her use of large format cameras makes this a slow and demanding process, that she embraces to get the results that she wants. always looking out for that great photograph through laborious trial and error. She describes how she travels around with her portable darkroom, she talks about the excitement of discovering a new project, she is certainly ploughing her own furrow, learning as she goes along, not having had any formal training in photography. Her enthusiasm is infectious and readers can see the results in the numerous photographs contained in the book.
She spends a lot of print talking about her ancestors, like her photographic work this is a passion that she has explored in great detail. She seems to be searching out her own character traits, trying to ground herself in the people that she is descended from. This is interesting only when it reflects the society and provides context for her own situation, some of it feels a little self indulgent. Her father had a fascination with death, he was a good, kind, generous man, but lacked the ability to show his love for his family. He worked as a doctor of medicine and was well liked by his patients. Sally tries to walk in his shoes to discover more about herself as she too is fascinated by death. There is very little information about her mother and much more about her black nurse.
It is an autobiography where the author opens up about herself, working through her issues, coming to terms with the racism that was inherent in the society that she was part of. She also reflects about her chosen profession coming to the conclusion that photographs destroy memories. I am in agreement with her on this point, as I too think that we are in danger of only remembering the photographs of important events in our lives. Black and white photography and the processes involved in making pictures was a passion of mine before digital photography arrived and so I have a vested interest in Sally Mann's thought provoking book. It is also a brave attempt to place herself and provide a portrait of herself in words. It is well written for the most part and those atmospheric photographs make it an excellent read and feast for the eyes 4.5 stars.
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landscapes and self portraits. She caused some controversy with her second collection of photographs: At Twelve: portraits of a Young Woman. An autobiography can easily become a platform for self aggrandisement and when I started Sally Mann's book I was very much aware that the author was writing about herself, however by the time I got to the end I felt that she had presented a rounded and believable portrait. The book is subtitled a memoir with photographs and there are plenty of her striking pictures on display which are integrated smoothly with her text. Various themes emerge from the book, helped by the fact that it is not set out chronologically and these are: family life, the culture of living in a confederate state, racism, her ancestry, photography and making pictures, landscape, horses and the art of seeing. There is also a portrait of Cy Twombly an important painter and sculptor who lived quite nearby.
There are a number of chapters on her family which have provided much of the inspiration for her work as a photographer. She and her husband chose to live on a farm by the river which enjoyed an isolated position and so the children were able to run free, just as Sally had done when she was a child. The pictures that caused the controversy were her pictures of her naked children. Her argument was that she was taking pictures of the children in their natural surroundings, however she was using a large format camera and so the children had to be posed: remember the title of her book "Hold Still". At the time when child pornography was being discussed and adolescent girls were being used in fashion photography, it is not surprising that Mann's photographs caused a bit of a furore.
Sally Mann had a black nurse which was quite usual for Southern white families with money. She looks back with a kind of horror that this was an accepted practice. She loved her black nurse/nanny and she is pretty sure that that love was returned, there is nothing that she can do now, but lament on the situation now that she understands the difficulties that her nurse faced during the years of segregation. Her thoughts come close to a baring of the soul and she does a similar thing with regard to the photographs she makes of people:
"It’s a tricky moment: taking the picture is an invasive act, a one-sided exercise of power, the implications of which, when considered in historical perspective, are unsettling. Photography is always invasive, but these experiences are consensual and, in the best hours, transcendent. I have had men, complete strangers, trust me enough to offer up physical characteristics about which they were sensitive—missing digits, scabby, eczema-ridden backs, surgical scars—with no prompting and no embarrassment in the quiet afternoon light of my studio deck."............
Exploitation lies at the root of every great portrait, and all of us know it. Even the simplest picture of another person is ethically complex, and the ambitious photographer, no matter how sincere, is compromised right from the git-go."
Her passion for making photographs and of working flat out to make great art comes across in her writing. Her use of large format cameras makes this a slow and demanding process, that she embraces to get the results that she wants. always looking out for that great photograph through laborious trial and error. She describes how she travels around with her portable darkroom, she talks about the excitement of discovering a new project, she is certainly ploughing her own furrow, learning as she goes along, not having had any formal training in photography. Her enthusiasm is infectious and readers can see the results in the numerous photographs contained in the book.
She spends a lot of print talking about her ancestors, like her photographic work this is a passion that she has explored in great detail. She seems to be searching out her own character traits, trying to ground herself in the people that she is descended from. This is interesting only when it reflects the society and provides context for her own situation, some of it feels a little self indulgent. Her father had a fascination with death, he was a good, kind, generous man, but lacked the ability to show his love for his family. He worked as a doctor of medicine and was well liked by his patients. Sally tries to walk in his shoes to discover more about herself as she too is fascinated by death. There is very little information about her mother and much more about her black nurse.
It is an autobiography where the author opens up about herself, working through her issues, coming to terms with the racism that was inherent in the society that she was part of. She also reflects about her chosen profession coming to the conclusion that photographs destroy memories. I am in agreement with her on this point, as I too think that we are in danger of only remembering the photographs of important events in our lives. Black and white photography and the processes involved in making pictures was a passion of mine before digital photography arrived and so I have a vested interest in Sally Mann's thought provoking book. It is also a brave attempt to place herself and provide a portrait of herself in words. It is well written for the most part and those atmospheric photographs make it an excellent read and feast for the eyes 4.5 stars.
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LibraryThing member arubabookwoman
This is photographer Sally Mann's memoir, interspersed with family documents and old family photos, as well as many of Sally's own photos. Sally notes at the beginning of the memoir that her "long preoccupation with the treachery of memory has convinced me that I have fewer and more imperfect
The memoir is organized loosely chronologically, but also by subject matter: her mother, her father, her time away at school, her various photographic endeavors. She admits to being a "wild child," and she early found her twin passions of photography. She came to fame (maybe notoriety) with her series of photographs of her family, primarily her three children as the passed through the stages of childhood, sometime (gasp!) nude.
I think there is more in this book about her art and her artistic passion than her personal life, but her deep love of family and the land she lives on comes through. She is of the South, but conflicted by its obsessions with the past and the Confederacy. I enjoyed reading about her artistic process, though at times I was a little lost by her descriptions of some of the technicalities about photography.
This was a National Book Award Finalist, and I've had it on my Wishlist since virtually when it was published almost ten years ago. I'm glad I finally got to it.
Recommended.
4 stars
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recollections of childhood than most people." However, she also refers to photographs, of which ample use is made in this book, as "the malignant twin to imperfect memory." She relates that in 1901 Zola remarked that "you cannot claim to have really seen something until you have photographed it. What Zola perhaps also knew or intuited was that once photographed, whatever you had 'really seen' would never be seen by the eye of memory again."The memoir is organized loosely chronologically, but also by subject matter: her mother, her father, her time away at school, her various photographic endeavors. She admits to being a "wild child," and she early found her twin passions of photography. She came to fame (maybe notoriety) with her series of photographs of her family, primarily her three children as the passed through the stages of childhood, sometime (gasp!) nude.
I think there is more in this book about her art and her artistic passion than her personal life, but her deep love of family and the land she lives on comes through. She is of the South, but conflicted by its obsessions with the past and the Confederacy. I enjoyed reading about her artistic process, though at times I was a little lost by her descriptions of some of the technicalities about photography.
This was a National Book Award Finalist, and I've had it on my Wishlist since virtually when it was published almost ten years ago. I'm glad I finally got to it.
Recommended.
4 stars
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LibraryThing member fmclellan
One of the great Southern memoirs. Astounding use of language. Clear down to the bone.
LibraryThing member ValerieAndBooks
This book was an assigned reading for one of my younger son's college classes (not the entire book but some sections) and he passed it along to me thinking I would like it. I did indeed like it a lot. I had seen some publicity in the past about Sally Mann's photography -- some of it controversial
Of course, being a photographer, this book includes a lot of photographs -- many of her own, which she critiques -- and old-time photos of her relatives. That brought this memoir more to life.
All in all this was a fascinating read.
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-- and Mann does address that in this memoir. Mostly, though, her memoir touches upon her parents and grandparents lives and even the murder-suicide of her inlaws. Other parts were thoughtful discussions of what race relations were in the South in which she grew up, and currently resides.Of course, being a photographer, this book includes a lot of photographs -- many of her own, which she critiques -- and old-time photos of her relatives. That brought this memoir more to life.
All in all this was a fascinating read.
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Awards
National Book Award (Finalist — Nonfiction — 2015)
Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction (Finalist — Nonfiction — 2016)
Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year (Nonfiction — 2015)
NPR: Books We Love (2015)
San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year (Nonfiction — 2015)
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Adults (Selection — Nonfiction — 2015)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2015
Physical description
496 p.; 6.5 inches
ISBN
9780316247764
UPC
787721841708