Sally Mann to speak at MFA-Boston

[SuzanneR]

On November 20th. I got my ticket!!

http://www.mfa.org/calendar/sub.asp?key=12&subkey=58

[Jeff Kubach]

I woundn't mind going, but do to work I can't go. (and also due to lack of money). But she is a excellant photographer and I enjoy her prints.

Jeff

[ann]

-
i am sorry this is so far away for me, as i would love to go. for those like myself, try to find a copy of the dvd "what remains". be sure to view the out takes, as they are interesting.

[sionnac]

I will try to make it - if it's not sold out by the time I order my ticket tonight! (have to check with my sweetheart to see if he wants to go too)

[sionnac]

Got tickets!

[sionnac]

Great lecture. She's well-read, funny and very open. Slide show with actual slides! Some unpublished images, some from her exhibits/books. She began with some of her early student work, and showed how she used to struggle with holding her view camera without a tripod (she used to use the hood of her car or just hold the thing - even when she was waist deep in the river on her farm photographing her son). She talked about her family, having 3 children in 5 years and trying to make ends meet. She talked about the transition from photographing her children to making landscapes - she said that simply, she started out with making pictures very close to home. How the lives of the girls in At Twelve were more complex and difficult than hers was at that age. She talked about sentimentality vs. nostalgia - how one could surrender to sentiment, but nostalgia robs memory of human complexity, and the South is complex. She told us about her Kerouacian trip through the South, where she photographed Antietam, her wet plate darkroom in the back of the truck where she also slept. The cadaver pictures from What Remains are hard to look at - at least for me - but the photos of the remains of her greyhound were beautiful. She also photographed the places along the way of the last hours of Emmett Till. She said wet plate photography is more fashioning an object than just taking a picture. She closed with images of her children's faces, very close in, and took some questions. I was jealous of the SMFA students who got to have class with her the next day, who will see prints of what she's working on now. Great storytelling, really enjoyed it and will try to make the signing today if I can leave work early.

[SuzanneR]

Thanks for that.. I wasn't able to go after all, my son had his play last night. Wish they could do a podcast or some such.

[Drew B.]

Sounds very interesting...in fact, it sounds like Dana recorded the talk from her review!

[sionnac]

Nope, just old fashioned scribbling!