Sally Mann on Charlie Rose

TOP's off tomorrow, but I've been trying (?) to leave you with something to do on Saturdays, as if you had more time on Saturday than any other day. Which might not be true. Saturday was my favorite day of the week when I was a kid—my long, lazy, "free" day—and I can't shake the old mindsets.

So here's Sally Mann on Charlie Rose. I haven't watched the whole thing myself yet (I'm kind of allergic to videos—they move along so slowly)—but the first third was promising.

Let us know what you think.

Several readers wrote to suggest this. (Thanks.)

Also, I bought a copy of Hold Still: A Memoir with Photographs, and it looks like it might be really good, but I was cleaning the house and promptly lost it somewhere. I "put it away." No idea where. (If I get any more "organized"....)

Have a great Saturday!

Mike

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Bill Mitchell: "My comments on Amazon:

"Sally Mann is one of our greatest living photographers, but this is not a book about photography. Instead, it is about her relation to art, and her family, and how her attitude has been integrated by her background and 'upbringing,' (as we say in The South).

"It is a great pleasure, almost a privilege to read—the quality of the writing is superb—but it is complex and not an easy read. In fact, the writing is so well-constructed and dense that it took me several days to finish, as I was unable to read and digest more than a few pages at a time without putting it aside and detouring to less demanding and more entertaining material, (i.e., TV, or a good murder mystery).

"I rate it as a 4 rather than a 5 only because of the dozens (hundreds?) of photographs, (mostly family snapshots,) poorly reproduced by being printed on the same paper as the text. I often found it necessary to use my big Sherlock Holmes magnifying glass to appreciate their content and relation to her text. It is a superb book. I bet she'll get the Pulitzer for Autobiography."

David in Sydney: "OK Mike, 'I'm kind of allergic to videos—they move along so slowly' begs the question how long you look at photographs for."

Mike replies: Up to 45 years at least, in the case of certain family photographs, posters, and Civil War photographs I studied as a boy. Years ago I had an egg timer and I would "read" photographic books by looking at each spread for three minutes before turning the page. When I lived in D.C. I would return to exhibits to "visit" favorite photographs again and again, and sometimes I would return to museum exhibits as many as five times. I have photobooks I have studied dozens of times. When I was in school I spent hundreds of hours at the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division looking at original portfolios. Finally I would often settle down for bed at night with a stack of my own workprints, and go through them slowly to see what new I could discover. I also have an uncommonly good memory for still photographs--I can remember specific pictures I saw in exhibits thirty years ago, and specific photographs taken by classmates in school in the '80s.

Comments

[Don Craig]

The interview was excellent - although perhaps Mr. Rose should talk just a little less. At one point Ms. Mann apologized for interrupting him to say something. On the plus side, occasionally Charlie's rambling provoked Sally to provide an insight we otherwise might not have had.

Apropos Mike's remark about the molasses medium -
television does seem slow these days, but videos that are mostly talk are easy. I put them in a window on my Photoshop menu monitor, and listen while doing a difficult matte or blend or stitch or stack on my main monitor. Bit like listening to the radio while sewing.

[Clayton Jones]

I concur with Bill Mitchell's remarks about "Hold Still". I'm currently about half way through it and so far it is superb. It's not a quick read. It requires some thought and contemplation, and yes, a good magnifying glass will be very handy for examining the photos more closely. The author has openly shared her internal workings as an artist and I have learned much that helps me understand better my own. I feel privileged to have been given this intimate glimpse, and I agree that the book will be seen as an important addition to southern literature. Highly recommended.

[Jeff Macmillan]

I find the criticisms ( also voiced on Amazon) about poor reproductions of her work astounding. So she's supposed to give the public an , by all accounts, amazingly well written autobiography AND coffee table quality
reproductions of her entire body of work all for one low price?
Wait and that's not all: She should also include free prints, endlessly sharp carving knives, a vibrating weight-loss belt, free Viagra and ..... A cure for male pattern baldness.
Come on, can we be a bit more reasonable here? Maybe a BIG illustrated coffee table version of this autobiography is in order but not for the $20 this is going for.

[Mike Smith]

Bill Mitchell -- your critique of Hold Still is spot on. Most enjoyable read I've had in quite a while.

[Gato]

I saw the Charlie Rose interview last week and highly recommend it to anyone interested in photography or art. Good conversation about her life, her art, and art in general.

I'm like Mike about video - usually it's just too slow - but Rose is one of the few interviewers I can tolerate.

[Bruce Appelbaum]

Hmm -- unlike Bill Mitchell I found it to be a really engrossing and quick read, almost unputdownable. The stories about herself and her family are well-told, and there is a bit of the murder mystery in there.

[L.T. Grey]

A while back –– I'm old so that was a LONG time ago –– I took a picture of a barn in the snow that I fancied and it occurred to me to think and then to say, "Every photographer must have a barn photo in his or her collection". I've never had a chance to verify that thought, so let me ask the squillions of TOP ... uh, what? ... users? readers? aficionados?

Is there ANYone out there in TOP-land who does NOT have a picture of a barn in his or her collection?

Don't worry. Mike. Your mailbox will NOT overflow. There CAN't be but a handful world-wide.

[Crabby Umbo]

Sorry, Sally Mann is not "one of our greatest living photographers". That is one persons opinion, not the photo-art communities nor the photographic communities.

[Dillan]

Your comment 'I'm allergic to videos--they move along so slowly,' perfectly captures my feelings too. I've been that way since before the internet, so it's not the internet doing it to me. I just really prefer the written word and still photos. I guess that is why I like this blog.

[Bryce Lee]

Looking at Rose, realized, "damn he has aged!" But then who has not. As to Sally Mann, she resembles (as does anybody else in a similar position)
an animation perched on a pedestal.

Sally does however tell "it" like it is. Work! Looking for and not always finding, perfection.

Yep, can understand the search; and maybe for me given recent changed circumstance that perfection of rendering of an image may appear yet for me in my lifetime

[Mani Sitaraman]

That has to be the longest comment by Bill "Laconic Bill" Mitchell in all these years on TOP. ;)

Well worth the wait, too.

[jps]

Relating this back to last week's Cliche posts (as a kind of counterpoint), I came across a nice Sally Mann flower pic when I dug out my copy of Flora Photographica at the weekend. It's published by Thames & Hudson, I think. Several other wonderful flower photos in there, including those by Atget, Cunningham, Kertesz, Friedlander and Adams amongst others.

[scott kirkpatrick]

I also find it unputdownable, but for some reason when reading it on my Kindle app on Android none of the pictures is more than one or two inches in the longest dimension. Hers hold up well at that thumbnail size, but muddy old snapshots do not survive.

scott

[david]

Mike, thanks for posting a link to this interview, Sally Mann is fascinating woman and an inspiring artist. She recently spoke at Ryerson University in Toronto as part of her book tour. It was a Friday evening about two weeks ago and you would have thought by size of the line up that there was a rock concert happening. I'm sure part of the reason for the huge crowd was that they were giving her book free to the first couple hundred people! Many of us didn't even make it in to the auditorium. However, the talk it available online: https://ryecast.ryerson.ca/48/Watch/8954.aspx
The Charlie Rose interview is good but he sure does interrupt alot!

[Jeff Macmillan]

Frankly I am stunned that someone, anyone doesn't think Sally Mann is one of the greatest living photographers. Granted that's a vague term and the number could be huge but I can't think of too many others with more memorable work.

[Martin]

Like Ms Mann's book. Can't abide Rose. Last thing I saw of his was a discussion with Daniel Barenboim, James Levine and Elliott Carter. Rose addressed Carter as though he were a senile idiot. Rose is a shameless nincompoop.

[DaveC]

A couple of weeks ago I saw Sally Mann interviewed at San Francisco's City Arts and Lectures, just out of the desire to learn more about famous photographers. I'd never been particularly interested in her images before. I wish I knew who the interviewer was because (unlike Rose) he let her speak, and her personality really shone through. She's very funny and very intelligent, and now I've seen alot more in her images too. It's made me think more about how I view photos, especially (apparently) controversial ones.

I do wish Charlie Rose would shut up and not interrupt so much, his interviews are almost selfies with a star. I roared with laughter when she apologised for interrupting him.

Dave.