Sally Mann's ghosts

Unable to escape the controversies of her past, the photographer attempts to understand and embrace them

From the book, Hold Still.
(Image credit: (Kim Rushing, Courtesy of Kim Rushing))

Sally Mann is haunted by the past. And in her new book, Hold Still: A Memoir with Photographs, the 64-year-old artist grapples with what's behind her in an attempt to find understanding and peace.

That's easier said than done. Because a big part of Mann's past, a part that Mann just can't seem to shake, is a scandal. Her 1992 book Immediate Family featured photographs of Mann's three young children, who were sometimes naked or bare-chested, on the family's remote Virginia farm. Critics decried Mann's art as akin to child pornography. And more than two decades later, that's a label that still taints Mann.

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Lauren Hansen

Lauren Hansen produces The Week’s podcasts and videos and edits the photo blog, Captured. She also manages the production of the magazine's iPad app. A graduate of Kenyon College and Northwestern University, she previously worked at the BBC and Frontline. She knows a thing or two about pretty pictures and cute puppies, both of which she tweets about @mylaurenhansen.