Paris Photo 2025 Highlights New Sally Mann Works.

10 hours ago7 min read3 comments

The hallowed halls of the Grand Palais in Paris are set to become the epicenter of the photographic world once more with the arrival of Paris Photo 2025, an event that promises a compelling journey from vintage icons to the bleeding edge of contemporary vision. For any serious connoisseur of the lens, this is our Cannes, our Oscars, a curated spectacle where history is not merely displayed but enters into a vibrant, critical dialogue with the present.The buzz this year, the undeniable headliner cutting through the white noise of countless exhibits, is a suite of never-before-seen works by the legendary Sally Mann. Mann, an artist whose name is spoken with a reverent hush, has long operated in the complex, fertile territory where family, memory, landscape, and mortality intersect.Her previous bodies of work, from the intimate and controversial immediacy of 'Immediate Family' to the haunting, decomposing beauty of 'Body Farm' and the deep-time Southern landscapes of 'Deep South,' have consistently challenged viewers, forcing a confrontation with the fragile, often unsettling, truths of existence. To encounter new work from her is not simply to see new pictures; it is to be granted access to a continuing, deeply personal meditation that resonates on a universal frequency.One can imagine these new pieces, perhaps continuing her exploration of the Virginia wilderness surrounding her home, where the land itself seems to exhale history, or maybe venturing into a new, uncharted thematic territory altogether. The technical mastery is a given—her use of the wet-plate collodion process is alchemical, producing images that feel less like captured moments and more like artifacts, objects dredged from a collective subconscious, marred by the beautiful ghosts of chemical imperfections.Her presence at the fair, represented by what one assumes will be a major gallery, elevates the entire proceedings, setting a benchmark for artistic depth and integrity. But Paris Photo is a symphony, not a solo.The fair's promise of 'vintage icons' suggests a chance to stand before pristine prints from the foundational pillars of the medium—a Cartier-Bresson 'decisive moment,' a Steichen theatrical portrait, a Weston pepper that transcends its subject. These are the canonical texts, and seeing them in person is a pilgrimage.Conversely, the 'contemporary visions' will likely feature the digital pioneers and conceptual artists who are currently deconstructing what photography can be, from AI-generated landscapes to large-scale installations that question the very nature of the image. The Grand Palais itself, a Beaux-Arts masterpiece of iron and glass, becomes a character in this narrative, its classical grandeur providing a stark, beautiful contrast to the often raw and immediate power of the photographs it houses.The stakes for galleries and collectors are immense, with the market for photographic art continuing its robust ascent, yet for the true devotee, the value lies beyond the price tags. It lies in the collective intake of breath before a perfect print, in the quiet conversations that spark new understandings, and in the undeniable proof that, in an age of image saturation, the still photograph, when wielded by a master like Mann, retains a unique and devastating power to reveal the world to us anew.

#Paris Photo 2025

#Sally Mann

#photography

#Grand Palais

#art fair

#contemporary art

#vintage photography

#featured

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