IMMEDIATE FAMILY 'PH'OTOGRAPHS BY SALLY MANN AFTERWORD BY REYNOLDS PRICE [Mann's photographs] suggest that the camera is as adept atdepicting the desires ofthe subconscious as itis inrenderingthe shapes ofeveryday life. - AndyGrundberg TheNewYorkTimes Takenagainstthe Arcadianbackdropofherwoodlandhome in Vir, ginia, SallyMann's extraordinary, intimatephotographsofherchil dren - Emmett, Jessie, and Virginia - reveal truths that embody the individuality of her'immediate family and ultimately take on a universal quality. Mann states that her work is"about everybody's memories, aswell as theirfears," a theme echoed by Reynolds Price inhis eloquent,poignantlyreflectiveessayaccompanyingthephoto, graphs in Immediate Family. Withsublimedignity, acutewit, andferal grace, Mann'spicturesex, plore the eternal struggle between the child's simultaneous depen dence and quest for autonomy - the holding on, and the breaking away. This isthestuffofwhichGreekdramasare made: impatience, terror, self-discovery, self-doubt, pain, vulnerability, role-playing, andasense ofimmortality, allofwhichconverge in SallyMann'sas, tonishingphotographs. A traveling exhibition of Immediate Family, organized by Aperture, willopenat theInstituteofContemporaryArtin Philadelphiain the fall of 1992. A paperback edition of Imrrtediate Family will accorn pany the exhibition. SALLY MANNhasexhibitedandtaughtnationally. Herworkisin the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modem Art, the Whitney Museum ofAmerican Art, the Chrysler Museum.theCorcoranQallery, theSapFranciscoMuseumofMod, emArt, and other major'collections (continued on insidebackcovet) IMMEDIATE FAMILY Blowing Bubble, 1987 Th pl imp rtrnt; h tim umm r. It' cny umm r, but th lac i h 01 nd th p pI h r r my family. I h v li d all my lif in uthw t rn Vir inia, th ~ thill M untain . And all my lif many thin he b n th am. Wh n w Virgini art r, f; r wh m ur y un t daught r i ru m d, w r ck n h r c 1 lu p rch. Th m n wh walk by tip th ir hat, th w m n flap th ir hand Ian uidly in ur dir cti n. r t th cabin: th r in c m t r ak th h t, f; curin th arb rita n th cliff c acr th ri er. m tim a I f; und a la -- lat n ativ icturin the cliff in th 1 00. I print d it and h ld it u a ain t th pr nt r ality, and th tr and ca and rain n th r ck ar id ntical. E n th d adw d, h ld in pl. by t naci u yin ,ha n t lipp d d wn. And th cl th : th Ea t r dr wa mad f r m wh n I wa ix my m th r J J and h r m th r, i Adams. Wh n i Mann, thirt y ar lat r, pr ad ut that kirt, th hill th t urr und h r ar th am mod t n f ur h m . I r m mb r th hat. y m th r, a B t nian, w uld r tr at t h r dr m f; r th aft rn n, t ndril fIn black hair tuck t h r n ck. I'd tay ut with Vir inia, itting in h r r t la a hId th ppl ,a d z n fat b x r lazin at ur f t. Th y ar n1Y par nt w nt t Eur pe, Virginia t k m t h r church. All th w m n \v r whit 1v and w rk d th ir flow r d fan. ltd wh n Vir inia t d, and r t wa f mu ic r II d r In . Th y tumbl d m lik a pal pi c f c an la , end I \ a h d up ut ide, linkin in th udd n h at n un hin f Main tr t. in tv-thr y ar arat th tw Vir inia , m dau h r and th bi w man wh rai d m . Th dark, p w rful arm r hrunk nnw, th ti ht kin f my dau ht r' arm puck r with abundanc . But, till, it m that tim eff ct 1w chan hr. At th cabin, th riv r' c ur i a in ariabl a th h bit f it d niz n : th gr at blu h r n, who fli f; ad ly cl that w can h ar ld gri tl grind in hi win joint; th bar; th ri albin car, alrn t flu r c nt in th ni ht wat r. In th fi ld a th ri r, cattl raz, turnin t ward u with th arn dull fac ,whit lik t wn childr n. And, acr th c untv, my m th r till Ii in th am h u , and th chil r n r II in th n W--In wn ra d n th am 1n hill. But my fath r ida. H wa an dd all, a charact r, an cc ntric. T thi da, h r main pared x t us. H hy ician wh r mind d me, n in hi a p arance, f th c untr d ct r in W. Eu n mith' Life ph t ay. But wh r that d ct r w r a 1 k f puzzl d xhau ti n, my fath r v ry ft n w r a 1 k f irnpi h c rtitud . Meint:inin an ft n nn yin Inpa n t thi ,h f It n nfli tin th p rc iv d entradi ti n of bing b th n1 rali t and an ath i t. H w qui t nd una umin in hi p rna, nd xtravagant in hi vi i n, hi mann r d and curtly b havi r impr bably pair d with unap 1 tic lf-indul nc. My m th r' franti pl D11 n d af er a h rutin lv t rr riz d th family by dri in 120 mil p r h ur in what r wa th fa t t p rt car mad n any c ntin nt. A a family, v/ w r imply di~ r nt. My tw br th r and I w r th only childr n in ur ch 1r quir d b ur par nt t it in th hallway durin Bibl tud. Th r wa no w do' id d farnil t ti n wa n, n m mb r hip in th c untry club, n church r up, n c 1 nial h u in th n w ubdi i i n. Finally, w all earn t b Ii v what Rh tt Bud r t ld carl tt: that r putati n i m thin p pl with charact r can d with ut. th r farnili had cr ch at hri trna , but thi wa th d c rati n my fath r plac d in th livin r m: j in d by ha tity th f II win y ar: H pr due d whim ical art fr m alm t anythin - thi P rtn y' TripI C m litrl nak, which wa th plaint grac d th c nt rpi c f th dinin .. backyard wh n hi room tabI , turn d ut t ard n wa n th b a p trif d do turd: tat gard n t ur: Hi ard n ... h w t talk ab ut it: thirty acr with iant oak , p nd in th I wland , and hill id f rchard. It We wild rn wh n h b u ht it in 1950. I r m mb r th grim n r y with which h w rk d, rippin ut th d vil' h trin, tripp d t th wai t and w atin in th h at. A h cl ar d ach acr ,h plant d tr h had purcha d in En land, th ri nt-th rar t f th rar. H wa a man p d. But the land wa till wild when I r w up, a f ral child runnin nak d with th pack f b x r . Th und f th ax , th tract r, Daddy' Indian call br ught u back, psnting and cratch d fr rn crawlin thr ugh th tunn 1. w had mad in th In und d h n y uckl . I Jessie at 6. 1988 Emmett Afloat, 1988