Sally Mann (born 1951) was named America’s best photographer by Time magazine in 2001. Her early work included black and white images of her own children which caused a degree of controversy, especially those images in which they adopted ‘adult’ poses, like the
1989 image below.

If you’re interested in finding out more about Sally Mann and some of the technical aspects of her work, the following link is to the first part of a three-part series What Remains: The Life and
Work of Sally Mann. Follow the links on YouTube for Parts 2 and 3.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNEd93H4pPY

This link will take you to some photographs that Mann has taken of her husband of 40 years who has muscular dystrophy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACVN0bKze4Q

Exercise: Mixed messages: Candy cigarette

This is a more challenging image than any you’ve been asked to analyse previously because of the interplay between the young subject and the adult pose. As before, go through the various elements of the photograph one by one and note down how they
contribute to the meaning that you take from the image – whatever that is. For example, you might think that Mann is deliberately challenging conventional attitudes to the portrayal of children or that she’s commenting on the child’s transition to adulthood.

This image is called Candy Cigarette. Does that influence your interpretation of the image?

This was a highly controversial image in 1989 when it was produced. What do you think the reaction would be to it today?

Make notes in your learning log or blog. It might be interesting to go on the student forum and find out what other students have made of this image.