The Perfect Tomato by Sally Mann
Posted by John Brownlee
Transposed in a shaft of sunlight, a translucent-skinned sylph walks out of the forest to tread, goddess-like, upon the table of some apathetic picnickers. Perhaps I’m a sucker for overexposed black-and-white shots, but this photograph is unforgettable. The photograph is by Sally Mann.
The Perfect Tomato [Guggenheim] : Hugo Strikes Back! : MCSG SYM
Categories: Gurls Gurls Gurls, Lolitas, Photography
Posted at 12:31 pm on July 31, 2007
7 Comments -
That effect is truly eerie. Her deep expression, the ghostly nature, and I love the way she looks as if she’d just arrived from above!
Comment by TQ — July 31, 2007 @ 4:30 pm
Great photo, airy, almost spooky.
For the record, Gurls Gurls Gurls, Lolitas, not the tags I would want on a picture of my little girl, if I had one. Kinda points this site the wrong way, in my miniscule opinion…
Comment by Matt — July 31, 2007 @ 4:37 pm
Eliza and I are big Nabokov fans, what can I say? This picture looks like something out of one of Humbert Humbert’s Annabel fever dreams. And I do think there’s something very sexual about the picture, though I want to make it clear that I am not sexually aroused by the photograph. It’s more than just her nudity, it’s the look on her face (icy and contemptuous) combined with the way she steps forward, as if to feel hearts squelch between her toes. She looks like some sort of cruel goddess.
Comment by John Brownlee — July 31, 2007 @ 4:49 pm
When was the picture taken? Not that it matters, of course, but the bio of the photographer says she was working on pictures like this between ‘84 and ‘92. I don’t know if this is part of that series, but there’s definitely a lot more tension about this sort of thing these days than there was back then.
Comment by Peregrine — July 31, 2007 @ 6:35 pm
Is that some CP?
MOAR!
Just kidding. :-D
Comment by Lucas G — July 31, 2007 @ 7:47 pm
Should that be “transfixed”?
Please don’t eat my brain without condiments.
Comment by Trip the Space Parasite — August 3, 2007 @ 4:55 pm
The first time I saw this photo, I could not get it out of my head. It’s wonderful. I have since read that its a favorite of her also, and she has to be proud of it behond words. Some people go a lifetime, and never create something that beautiful…Keep up the good work Sally.
Comment by Max Lussier — December 17, 2007 @ 12:28 pm