The Question of Privacy: Sally Mann Response | Professional Paintings | Maryland | BNW Art: The Leaway Artisans

The Question of Privacy: Sally Mann Response

June 26, 2014

1. I think the lines between public and private have changed in the last century because people have perceived certain subjects, such as photographs of nude models as indecent, and have also developed different intentions and ways of looking at such things. Today’s society isn’t as free-spirited, and instead of living in a society of freeness, we are living in a society that is constrained, forcing people to hide what is natural or bare truth. The idea of truth and natural have been denied to a certain extent in this new culture and generation that has been created. 

2. Ideas, discoveries, and technological advances have contributed to these changes because technology, music, fashion, in addition to other things have influenced people to expose only what is decent or comfortable to the public, therefore hiding the truth. Technology and discoveries have in a way, taken away the natural aspect from our culture, therefore falsifying and hiding the true beauty that can be seen through natural images.

3. I see the most obvious changes when it comes to things such as nude models, or real life situations that are seen as a discomfort to the public. I feel like the public understands photos like these, but they don’t want to accept it because they haven’t experienced it themselves, therefore they perceive it based off of judgment and the idea of what is right and wrong.

4. Facts separate themselves from opinions because facts are things that are exposed clearly, and tell the true story. Opinions are simply how one perceives or judges a subject through their own eyes without allowing the photograph to speak the truth for itself.

5. The difference between revelation and exposure is that revelation is something being innocently revealed, while exposure tends to be a subject that is presented in a way that is based off of truth or a straightforward idea, and helps one to recognize the difference between “fact and fiction”.

6. An example of revelation is a photograph of a small girl doing ballet, while exposure would be a picture of a starving homeless little girl gazing at the viewer.

7. I think Wright Morris might place Sally Mann on the side of exposure, as she documented things such as her nude children, and exposed the bare truth and everyday lives of her children to the public in an “indecent” manner as perceived by society.

8. The difference between private and invisible is that private is something being hidden from the public, and something that is not visible or exposed. Invisible is something that is present to the public or viewer, but not immediately visible or noticed.

9. You make the invisible visible by presenting the subject in a way that is emphasized, and providing small details and clues which give the photograph a more conceptual meaning, without throwing it directly at the viewer.



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