Michael Weinstein

Sally Mann has always been a dreamer. The provocative photographs of her children that made her famous were self-declared fantasies, rather than windows on their world, as many people perversely believed. Now Mann has turned her romantic imagination to the landscape, shooting soft and glowing color pictures of the ruins of ancient Mayan temples in the Yucatan that are surrounded by scrub forests. Taken with an antique wide-angle lens, these untitled images are not documents--they transport us into a fictive world where intense contrasts of light and shadow evoke a sense of nostalgia for times that never were. Mann's hazy pictorialist scenes with almost monochromatic tonalities have the feel of nineteenth-century photography, yet, again, the effect is deceptive; she is not commenting on photographic history, but indulging her private sensibility.

"Yucatan" is at the Catherine Edelman Gallery, 300 West Superior, (312)266-2350, through November 9.

(2002-10-23)

Also by Michael Weinstein

Tip of the Week
In one of the most unabashedly beautiful series of contemporary photographs, Joel Sternfeld takes us to New York City's Highline, an abandoned elevated railroad track where he has found a dense wilderness of untamed vegetation that mutates kaleidoscopically through the seasons.
(2002-10-02)

Tip of the Week
Political and culturally critical art makes a comeback in this sharp-edged show.
(2002-08-14)

TIP OF THE WEEK
With this final show, Chicago loses one of its most important venues for young photographers.
(2002-08-07)

about Newcitychicago | about Newcity magazine | advertising | privacy policy | FAQ | employment