"Sally Mann's" Memoir "Hold Still"-Her Life, Her Art & Family History

Sally Mann's memoir "Hold Still" written with exceptional prose & candor is at its most fascinating when discussing her photographic subjects and her objectives for a shoot.  The things/people Mann  (b. Amer 1951) focuses her lens on range from her children, the rural southern landscape, human form "…and the ineffable beauty of decrepitude, of evanescene, or mortality."  Mann's most enlightening  perspectives were regarding the photos taken of her 3 young children.  I was stunned by the furor & accusations of child abuse levied against Mann.  The photo series of her offsprings are transformative expressions of love, affirmation and hope.   Mann admits there is an exploitive nature of photography at the root of every great portrait.  "Taking the picture is an invasive act, a 1 sided exercise of power."  What is taboo to one generation is often viewed as the norm if not genius in another era.  Mann speaks of arts' capacities & potencies with gravitas.  The fear of the elusiveness of her gifts is a constant worry.  "Each good new picture always holds despair within it, for it raises the ante for the ones that follow."  There's mention of the endearing friendship & admiration between Sally & the artist Cy Twombly.  Sally dismisses the concept of artistic potential limited to the gifted few.  "Art is seldom the result of genius; rather it is the product of hard work and skills learned and tenaciously practiced by regular people."  Sally's memoir drifts from her artistic pursuits to puruse her family history, that of the south and her macabre fascination with death.  Sally's family tree are considered the genetic threads for her factiousness, and unrest.  Sally's misgivings for her blind eye towards the racial divide she grew up in disturb her.  "It's that obliviousness, the unexamined assumption, that so pains me now:  nothing about it seemed strange, nothing seemed wrong."  Perhaps this motivated her  to capture both the southern landscape; its beauty tinged with sadness  & its "abiding human spirt of slavery."  She asks us to "weep for the great heart of the South; the flawed human heart."  Mann proclaims death as "the modern form of prudery."  She explains her preoccupation with death. "For me, living is the same as dying, and loving is the same as losing.  I believe it can make me better at living and better at loving, and just possibly, better at seeing."   This is an engrossing &  splendidly written memoir .  Mann is highly regarded for her skills as a photographer & writer. Her love for photos harbors some disdain.  "They diminish our ability to remember and what memories we have are impoverished."  "Hold Still" made and indelible imprint on me.