Happy World Photography Day! Photographer I admire: Sally Mann

I have so many photographers whose work I admire that choosing one for this event has been difficult. Because I chose an image of a member of my extended family (grandaughter), I have gone with Sally Mann. She isn't actually someone whose work I would want to copy exactly in style, as she tends a bit more towards the odd than my visual eye, however, her work does inspire me in many ways. Being unafraid to take a photo that may not be considered "beautiful" or doesn't follow stark rules about what a photo is supposed to be like. I guess mostly having a clear idea of what she wants to be doing and going for it is a large part of what I admire in her work. It is a quality that I continually strive for.

One thing about this image of mine that makes me think of Sally Mann is the decision to include the random objects behind my grandaughter instead of cropping the image and cropping them out. Leaving them in shifts the photo from a straight portrait to more of a scene of family life.

Happily I also got to spend time with my other grandchild on World Photography Day. He is 3 1/2 years old, but I let him use my mini polaroid camera and so he also participated. I let him keep the images he took, so none here to show (and there's only supposed to be one anyway), but know that he did make me make a silly face the photo he took of me. *smile*