Increasingly, the work I'm doing is in service to an idea rather than just to see what something looks like photographed. I'm trying to explore how I feel about something through photography.
Sally MannRead
I can think of numberless males, from Bonnard to Callahan, who have photographed their lovers and spouses, but I am having trouble finding parallel examples among my sister photographers. The act of looking appraisingly at a man, making eye contact on the street, asking to photograph him, studying his body, has always been a brazen venture for a woman, though, for a man, these acts are commonplace, even expected.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Sally Mann reflects on the differences in how male and female photographers engage with their subjects, emphasizing societal expectations and challenges faced by women.
In her quote, Sally Mann highlights the inherent gender disparities in the field of photography, particularly the differences in how male and female photographers are perceived and how they interact with their subjects. While men find it socially acceptable to approach and photograph women, women often face a boldness in doing similar acts with men. This observation not only underscores the challenges women face in artistic expression but also points to broader societal norms related to gender roles and expectations.
Themes
PhotographyGenderArtSocietyExpression
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on gender roles in art, this quote can underscore the conversation about representation.
More from Sally Mann
All quotes →Sometimes, when I get a good picture, it feels like I have taken another nervous step into increasingly rarified air. Each good-news picture, no matter how hard-earned, allows me only a crumbling foothold on this steepening climb—an ascent whose milestones are fear and doubt.
Sally MannRead
It's a touchy subject, but as a Southerner, you can't ignore our history any more than a Renaissance painter can ignore the Virgin Mary. And it's impossible to drive down a road or eat a vegetable or pass a church without being reminded of slavery.
Sally MannRead
The earth doesn’t care where death occurs. ...It’s the artist, by coming in and writing about it or painting it or taking a photograph of it, that makes the earth powerful and creates death’s memory. Because the land will not remember by itself, but the artist will.
Sally MannRead
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