there is an old old song performed by tammy wynette, "Stand by Your Man" which was the theme song for an old old movie "Five Easy Pieces" starring jack nicholson…..both the song and the movie are classics….the two women i photographed here are classics as well…. and both are unusually special women who have "stood by their men"….and rightfully, their men have stood by them..
mirrored here is sally mann following a presentation of her work at the "Festival of the Photograph"…sally showed her large format photographs starting with the original body of work on her children from the book "Immediate Family" and ended with photographs of her husband larry who is suffering and deteriorating from multiple schlerosis…..sally credits larry with being a supportive husband through all of her formative years by sharing with child raising and helping in every way he could with her talented trajectory…
sally’s new nude photographs of larry in a state of decline, but also heroic and perhaps oddly erotic and beautiful, reflect both artistry and her way of dealing with personal tragedy….larry and sally have been married for 37 years…i have been friends with sally for about 20 years i suppose, and i remember well her strength and level of commitment for her craft even in those early years ….there is no doubt in anyone’s mind sally’s major achievement as one of the great photographers of our time…
so, when i went to see her presentation two days ago i expected to see the work with which i was so so familiar….i knew larry was ill, but i did not know of her new photographs….but, the most significant discovery for me , and i think for the whole audience, was her dedication to her husband in such a special way….to turn life into art and art into life is sally’s mantra…..and there was not a "dry eye in the house" as sally bowed to a standing ovation in the auditorium on that sultry virginia afternoon…
one day before the ovation for sally, there was another stand up crowd ,above, honoring william albert allard…when the crowd got to their feet for bill, i started to move to the stage to photograph bill with the crowd behind….i took two steps in his direction, and then made a fast decision to stop right where i was and photograph ani, bill’s wife of 24 years…i figured i already had so many pictures of bill and very few of ani who has been bill’s backbone and support through "thick and thin"…
ani, who bill had met while on assignment in peru 26 years ago, is bill’s second wife…ani stayed strong by bill when he was "fired" years ago by National Geographic (see story "family/friends") and was his pillar of strength when bill lost his oldest son scott to melanoma two years ago…ani pretty much stays in the background to bill’s "larger than life" presence…. but without ani, bill would be "lost"…..i suspect bill is not an easy man to live with…many talented photographers are not….but ani has persevered and was the proudest of all when william albert allard received his due from this appreciative audience….
you should know that the whole festival in virginia just had a good "vibe" all way around….this was an amazing gathering of old friends and new…..a conglomeration of the respectful and the respected….a showing of work finalized and a promise of work to be done….i have several stories to write based on these three days in charlottesville, but as i sat down to write, it just seemed more than right to start off with these two amazing women…
and just imagine what is playing right now on my i-tunes catalogue……
This festival looks fantastic. Sally Mann is one of my absolute favorites. The new work sounds very interesting.
21 june there is a Sally Mann show opening here in Oslo:)
Looking forward to more festival reports.
What’s going on Dave,
Russell over here :-) Just read about what really makes a man strong. His lady or muse. Kudos to you for writing about this. For the reputation that we photographers have, it was very pleasing hearing the women get their due.
The love story of Bill and Anie sounds more like fantasy, but i’m glad is it not a dream. Then, hearing about Sally stand by her man! That’s wassup! Overlooked by the majority, but appreciated and recognized most by the minority.
For as long as i’ve been reading your blog I’m not sure what prompted me to post a comment today as opposed to other days. Looking forward to seeing the pictures, the reunion with Ruckus and R.R. and I can’t wait to see Rob and Lei-Ling. This sounds like an opening.
Be safe,
Russell
hey russell….
thanks for writing…and mostly, thanks for being a friend and collaborator….because of you i was able to get access to ruck and uptown and double r….i cannot wait to see them at this opening!!!
if i was not so flat out tired tonight, i would post my story about you…coming tomorrow my man, coming tomorrow…that will be wassup!!!
hey gunnar…
i might be in norway this summer to pick blueberries with jonas bendikson and his lovely wife lara….i do hope we meet…..
Hi David,
at first I didn’t recognized Sally Mann in this picture. I have a small documentary (Art 21) where she’s working in her house in Virgina, doing pictures of bones and landscapes (I thing part of her “Going South; series) without any makeup and she looks so beautiful
I have one of her prints “Jessie in the wind”, I think she’s a great artist …I like very much this little documentary because you can see how much passion she put into this you can see the kind of artist she is. Her husband has always been there for her….
I hope one day you’ll invite her to write a couple of words here in this great blog so we can write her back
saludos.
Carlos Rubin
Blueberrys is cool, hope we see you in the woods:) Say to Jonas Bendiksen that we are looking forward to see his fantastic pictures and listen to his speach at Fotografiets dag in Horten and of course at the Nobels peace center.
Gunnar
David – I have so enjoyed your blogs from the Festival. This image of Sally Mann is stunning! gina
Hi David,
I’m a french photographer, and my question is not about Sally Mann (she’s nice on this pics!!)but your camera, it’s a M8, right? What do you thinks about this body.I work 3 days with in Paris and i have again some hesitations…What your personnal conclusion for the digital leica??
Many thanks and congratulation for your works about HIP HOP, very pleasant…
(Excuse my English)
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