News / Announcements

November 17–23, 2021

Sally Mann is known for her photographs of intimate and familiar subjects rendered both sublime and disquieting. Her projects explore the complexities of familial relationships, social realities, and the passage of time, capturing tensions between nature, history, and memory. Central to Mann’s investigation are the landscapes that she has photographed both near her home in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley and across the South for over three decades. Often using a view camera, Mann draws on the history of both her medium and the Southern landscape to produce photographs that are expressive and elegiac.

Sally Mann is the 2021 recipient of the annual OPUS Award. Presented by the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans, the award is bestowed to individuals who have made and continue to make significant contributions to the vibrant and complex fabric of American Southern art. Mann, who was born in Lexington, Virginia, began her photographic practice in the 1960s and has remained connected to her Southern roots, documenting the people and places of the region in various critically acclaimed bodies of work. The award will be presented in January 2022, at the museum’s annual “O What a Night” gala.

Sally Mann has been shortlisted for the ninth cycle of the Prix Pictet, which aims to harness the power of photography to draw global attention to issues of sustainability, especially those concerning the environment. Founded in 2008 by the Pictet Group, the prize is awarded to the photographer who, in the opinion of the independent jury, has produced a series of work that is both artistically outstanding and presents a compelling narrative related to the selected theme, which is “Fire” this year. The winner will be announced in December 2021 at an exhibition of the shortlisted artists’ work at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.