To Read & To Write

“Hold Still: A Memoir With Photographs” is the gripping true story of Sally Mann, the renowned American photographer. While some may not have heard of her yet, reading this book, which recently won the Andrew Carnegie Medal For Excellence In Nonfiction (2016), more than suffices as an introduction to her work. There are four parts to the book, each of which ties in her life and philosophy and how these have informed her art. It is fascinating to read Sally Mann’s skillfully and beautifully written account of her childhood: her unconventional parents and her love for horses, her home: in the farmlands of Virginia, wrought with a violent history, the story of her mother’s life: she was a descendant of a Mayflower pilgrim, and her beloved father, a reserved man compelled by death and it’s imagery.  The book is more than just these stories, because “Hold Still” reveals Sally Mann’s innermost desires, weaknesses, her most private of thoughts, her sometimes unorthodox viewpoints (she...