Sally Mann - Virginia at Four
Father-Child Intimacy & Family Display
What’s your first reaction to the photo on the left?
What might be the relationship between the little girl and the guy behind her? Is he the father? Or a suspicious stranger?
This photo is one of Sally Mann’s controversial Virginia at Four Series, where she photographed intimate portraits of her children. Despite this, it immediately triggered the discussion on how intimately can a father interact with the child without being monitored and modified.
In this research report, I explored the boundaries of father-child intimacy and how parents manage the public-private practices of it.
Time 2021 November - December
Methodology Photo-elicitation - individual and group interviews
Supervisor Yifei Shen, Associate Sociology Professor at Fudan University
