Deep South

Mann photographs with a visceral awareness of who she is. She is unafraid of opening herself up and showing what is inside of her.She is from the deep South, and this book is an adventure for her as she lovingly captures the heart of the part of the country in which she has been raised, in all it's beauty and ugliness. Because of her antique techniques, each of the images is suffused with an "otherness" which gave me a profound sense of place. Being from the West Coast, I know little of the South, except for all of the prevailing views of it. This book was breathtaking for me, and I felt the love that Mann has for her land. I see it in a different way, now.Everything Mann touches becomes uplifted. She has examined her family, her husband as he deteriorates physically, dead bodies, racism, and the physical beauty of the South. She has written one of the best autobiographies I've ever read. She is uncompromising about her subjects, photographs what she sees, and tells her story with unflinching honesty. She reveals what most of us would hide and hope that it never came to light, and does so with humor. She has a quirkiness that is apparent, and probably annoys those she must deal with on a regular basis.She is one of the finest artists of the Century.

This book was incredibly intriguing when I first picked it up as a college student in 2008. As a professional photographer for more than 10 years, I am blown away by the richness of this collection of emotive images. The usage of a Large Format camera, and a number of alternative processes result in images that are both novel yet somehow transcend time. Prior to this book, I never had the desire to explore the Deep South, but that all changed... 10 years after first picking this book up, I'm incredibly happy to own it and to continue to be inspired by it. Sally Mann is an artist through and through, and is as talented a writer as she is a photographer.

I really wanted to like this book because I am from the same area as Sally Mann. I was so looking forward to her beautiful photos of the South. However, the majority of the photos were unrecognizable except as experiments with photo lenses and light. That's fine if it is classified as an art book, but as a homesick Southerner looking for spectacular photos that Ms. Mann usually delivers, this is definitely not the book to purchase. If you want an experimental photography book, you might like it.

Sally Mann has such a large body of work all of which is distinguished, and it seems almost blasphemous to pick out what is her "best." But my viewing this book, I feel a certain power that transcends meaning - these images are a combination of grace and power. The book on the whole contains a complexity of mood and emotion that is ghostly, historical - but undeniably present and real.The quality of her images - (and I don't know how she does it...indeed content aside Mann seems to hold technical camera skills that Providence bestowed upon her alone) - gives her images a wonderful sense of depth so that one almost feels as if they are standing there, by the water's edges, for instance, while at the same time in a landscape of dreams. In a class of herself in modern art, for me her landscapes here bring to mind the work of the J.M.W. Turner for their combination of visual depth while still holding impressionist qualities.All the images are great. The ones I took particular note on, though, are on pages39, 41, 51, 61, 69, 71, 81

her photos always move me -- these in particular -- moody, mysterious, historic in ways that are all too easy to imagine --

Bought this as a textbook for a freshman writing class at U of M but I'm so glad I did! it's a very spooky and moody book, especially once you've done your research on Mann and learnt that she was inspired to create such a book after a man had been shot down and bled into her yard. I found the bits of writing she includes about some photos sort of trivial. Though it is nice to learn the story of the photo, I like to imagine such new stories more.

This book was purchased as a gift for my son and it was better than we expected. My son has admired Sally Mann's work for awhile and enrolled in a college course which taught the same techniques. He was thrilled when he received this book...it contains some of her best work.