Disclaimer: I am not a photographer. I am not a photographic critic. I am not attempting to be either in this thread.
Yet, I have just received my first edition copy of “Deep South” by Sally Mann the other day. My opinion?
You can have your Ansel Adams.
Ms. Mann became notorious for her collection “Immediate Family,” which consisted of portraits of her children (sometimes nude–hence the controversy–since that’s how they dressed when the weather was acommodating). She gained further notoreity with the publication of “At Twelve,” a portrait of local girls’ transition from childhood to adulthood (no nudity, but controversial for her unabashed representation of the inherent sexuality of young adolescent girls).
She has released a few books since, including “What Remains,” from 2003, which was her photographic interpretation of/response to Death. There have also been a few art gallery catalogue releases which show up on Ebay every so often.
However, MY favorite part of her output has always been her landscapes. “Deep South” was a portfolio that she had done years ago, and was exhibited in major art museums, but never published.
Now it has been.
It is (IMHO) BRILLIANT. She uses an antique wooden-cabinet camera over a hundered years old, along with her own custom-coated glass plate negatives (wet-plate collodion–very toxic and very expensive), as well as antique lenses (which incorporate flaws, chips, cracks, etc.), and capitalizes on the light-leaks inherent in the total apparatus.
The final result (after she “distresses” things in the darkroom) looks like photographs taken 150+ years ago.
I WISH I had more technical jargon with which to fill this review, but I am just a nobody, photographically speaking.
I DO know good, however. Good can’t hold a candle to THIS.
This is (personally speaking) RAPTUROUS.