Critical Review of Sally Mann's 'Immediate Family' /Introduction - Nicola Bayes

When beginning to read Sally Mann's introduction to 'Immediate Family', I was instantly hit with the idea of home and family within the first line, which seemed to be singled out from the first of ten paragraphs. After this, Mann leads with a few facts about where she grew up and describes the surroundings in beautiful detail, almost like introduction of a novel.

Throughout the ten paragraphs leading up to a collection of fifty-three black and white photographs, Mann states that she remembers 'the heat' whilst growing up in south-western Virginia. This made me reconsider whether the controversial nude images of her three children, which I slightly believed to be a shock tactic, could be completely innocent and a normality within her family. But is it morally wrong of Mann to publish nude photographs of her children for all the world to see? Did the children have their say on the matter, even in there adolescence?

I feel throughout the introduction, it gives us a strong insight of her children's childhood, from the highs to lows. But I can't help but wonder, did these children want to be photographed? One of the last photographs to be included within the sequence was of Mann's son, Emmet. He is waste-level within a lake of some-sort, with a rather chillingly serious expression on his face, with a caption of 'The Last Time Emmett Modelled Nude, 1987'

Whether you feel Mann's work is controversial or not, you cannot deny her photography and texts capture the innocence of a child in a spectacular way. 262

Review of 'Liebeslied' by Rut Bless Luxemburg. -Nicola Bayes.

Rut Bless Luxemburg is well known for her investigations and exploration of the urban landscape. She produced a set of photographs named Liebeslied, or Love song, and was first exhibited in London in 2004. Luxemburg studied photography at London College of Communication and gained her last formal education at the University of Westminster.  

The resulting works of  ‘Lovestory’ are quite lonesome yet beautiful, some being instantly recognizable and some being almost abstract. Her long exposures allow her to use light eliminating from the streetlights, which I feel creates a searching feel to her photographs. There seems to be no sequencing to the photographs as the dates are not in order, yet I feel Luxemburg may have set the sequence to what she felt works best which creates a sort of journey throughout her monograph.

Accompanying these images, Alexander Garcia Duttmann adds a page of text for each Image, calling these ‘my suicides’. They seem to be a story, which describes Luxemburg’s photography within the scene. I found this quite strange considering the viewer flows through the images like they’re on a quest to find something, making their own story along the way, only to be hit with a rather large explanation.

There is no introduction to Luxemburg’s ‘Liebeslied’ and each image is set on there own page with a large which boarder, the only text being the plate number, and the year it was taken. I feel this adds to the sensation of searching and isolation of the photographs, making them more intense and foreboding. When admiring this book, I felt as though I was taking a journey through the unknown, on a quest to find something through the portals and gateways within it, and almost feeling lost when the images end.

After reviewing Luxemburg’s ‘Liebesied’, I felt as though she had taken me on journey, which was intense, enticing and somewhat distorted. I have never come across Rut Bless Luxemburg’s work before but I feel I will have to take a look into her work more often.

 Rut Bless Luxemburg,  2001, Liebeslied, Black Dog Publishing ltd.

'The hug' by Nan Goldin

Nan Goldin, 1968, New York City.

Howarth, S. and Alexander, M. D. 2005. Singular images;

Essay on Remarkable photographs. New York; Aperture.

Thought Nan Goldin’s career, Goldin has focused her photography around personal relationships if her friends and lovers. Goldin’s 'the hug' conveys the complexities of love in brief terms, bring thought to the subjects lives, thoughts, and feelings. As a stand-alone photograph, 'The hug' withholds extreme passion and, with the focus of the lovers wrapping around one another, a strong sense of determination. As their identities are unknown, I feel it heightens the quality of being so powerful and mysterious, especially with the inclusion of intimacy.

The couple is intertwined in each other arms, and have almost barricaded themselves away from the world in a firm embrace. Even the woman's hair seems to barricade their faces, as if for protection. The barricading if view strengthens the desire to know what they look like and who they are.

The shadow the left if the photograph adds to the feeling if combination and adds to the sense of them having their own private place. This shadow limes around their bodies and heads, which suggests a loss in identity. The present of the shadow becomes so strong it could be interpreted as a third person, adding a haunted feeling to the image.

As well as the shadow, the photograph includes the light of the flash, bringing drama to the image. This portrays how photography also puts some I the most private of encounters in the spotlight and creates a stage-like feel.

When analyzing the image, it reveals domination within the couple as one person usually slightly dominates the other. The hug itself appears too powerful to just be a friendly hug which I feel conveys a strong sense if attraction. All these elements are what makes 'the hug stand out, as it includes so many different powerful elements that, together, make an extraordinarily powerful photograph.

All That Is Solid Melt Into Air by Jeremy Deller - Nicola Bayes

Exhibition by Jeremy Deller, All That Is Solid Melts Into Air.

In All That Is Solid Melts Into Air, Deller takes a personal look at the impact of the Industrial Revolution on British popular culture and its persisting influence on our lives today. Within The Manchester art gallery, the workplace was a major component of Deller’s exhibition, which combines contemporary music, film and a range of 19th century images and objects. I felt his exhibition was initially very powerful due to a few key attractions, including the jukebox around the center of the room, which was placed against a wall with an extravagant explosion wall painting.

Deller’s exhibition included the trauma of the Industrial Revolution and focused on figures such as Adrian Street, who rejected a life in the mines to become a flamboyant international wrestler. I felt the overall feel of the room was very powerful and I felt with all the music and film that was included was very satisfying for most of the senses.  

When exploring the gallery, I noticed links within parts of Deller’s exhibition. The exhibition was planned out with male workers portaits on the left and women on the right side of the room. There was a selection of powerful women’s portrait photographs named The Shit Old Days by Annelie Wendeberg. These were anonymous photographs of women workers from the Tredegar Ironworks in South Wales and were photographed by a local photographer William Clayton. These photographs were in response to a public debate about the role of women in heavy industry. As well as these set of images, I found a single blow up photograph of a women in an Amazon workplace by Ben Howard. I feel these photographs show a clear contrast in how the workplace has changed and that women are now accepted into the heavy industry. There is also a very large contrast in what they’re hold, whilst the women within the amazon warehouse holds an electronic device, the women within the series of photographs within Tredegar Ironworks are holding multiply items.


Photograph from The Shit old Days by William Clayton.

Amazon workplace by Ben Howard.