Untitled (White Columns), 1998

Sally Mann (b. 1951 USA) is an acclaimed American photographer known for her evocative and often controversial photographs that explore themes of family, memory, mortality, and the American South. Mann gained widespread recognition with her series Immediate Family (1992), which features intimate and sometimes unsettling portraits of her young children, capturing the complexities of childhood, vulnerability, and the passage of time. Her work is characterized by its use of large-format cameras, meticulous composition, and a deep connection to the Southern landscape, which often serves as both a backdrop and a subject in her photographs. Mann's later work, including series like What Remains and Deep South, delves into the themes of death, decay, and the haunted history of the South, blending personal and historical narratives. Her use of traditional photographic techniques, including wet-plate collodion, gives her images a timeless, almost ethereal quality. Mann's work has been widely exhibited and collected by major museums, and she is recognized as one of the most important photographers of her generation. (Artist website)