The original photograph of the child is by Sally Mann, the subject is her own daughter. Her photographs have caused much controversary, including accusations of child pornography. Her reasoning behind photographing her children naked other inappropriate and very physical images was that they are her children and it is a natural image through a mother's eyes to see them like this. It's fair to argue that it is reason enough for her but for these to be available and published to the public is dangerous, she has created sex symbols out of her young children.
This is not to say I do not like her work, I think she is incredibly bold and the fact that her photographs have caused such controversary means she has succeeded in creating beautiful art, this controversary has built her popularity. Her photographs spark great debate. I criticise some of these photographs under my own theme for this project because it fits but I will also say that I love Sally Mann's work. She has a gift of evoking strong reactions, she has admitted that she 'likes pushing buttons'. People may criticise and condemn but she knows and her children know that she only aimed to capture the beauty and transience of her children, through a mother's eyes.
"I'd never seen child pornography. It wasn't in people's consciousness. Showing my children's bodies didn't seem unusual to me. Exploitation was the farthest thing from my mind."
I collaged the flowers over again dramatising the sense of sexuality in these pictures. These are incredible photographs but personally I think as a mother she should think about the impact these photos could have on her children. This is in some sort a form of neglect to her children's rights.
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