The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Black-and-white photograph of a young girl with light skin tone seated in a striped armchair, facing us, eyes closed, her eye on our left bruised. Her arms are folded across her stomach. Strands of her hair billow out to her left and she wears a lacy collar draped over her shoulders.

Black Eye

1991 (printed 1995)

Sally Mann

(American, 1951-)
America
gelatin silver print
Image: 46.8 x 58.5 cm (18 7/16 x 23 1/16 in.); Paper: 50.1 x 60.7 cm (19 3/4 x 23 7/8 in.); Matted: 76.2 x 81.3 cm (30 x 32 in.)
Gift of Friends of Photography 1995.198
© 1991 Sally Mann
Location: Not on view

Description

In 1984, Sally Mann began photographing her three children—Jesse, Virginia and Emmett—at their summer house near Lexington, Virginia. The images show the children wearing bathing suits, light summer clothes, or no clothes at all, and their self-assured posturing is spellbinding. Mann's often controversial photographs depict the fascinating narratives that expose parental fears and the vulnerability and defiance of children. In Black Eye, she focused on Virginia's upper torso and face, the child's bruised eye (resulting from a mishap with a hammock) evident as she dozes in a sheltering wing chair. Reminiscent of Victorian postmortem images, the sitter's serene face gently bathed in a soft light, her folded hands, and her oddly arranged hair make it difficult to determine whether the child is actually dead or alive.
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, Tom E Hinson. Catalogue of Photography. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996. Mentioned and Reproduced: P. 66-67, 229
    Hinson, Tom E. "Friends of Photography." Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 43, no. 1 (January 2003): 6-7. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 6-7 archive.org
  • Gifts from the CMA Friends of Photography. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 7, 2002-April 23, 2003).
    Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art; December 7, 2002 - April 23, 2003. "Gifts from the CMA Friends of Photography," CMA Members Magazine (January 2003), p.
    CMA, November 20,1996 - February 2, 1997: "Legacy of Light: Master Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art," see Catalogue of Photography, pp. 66-67.
    Legacy of Light: Master Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 24, 1996-February 2, 1997).
  • {{cite web|title=Black Eye|url=false|author=Sally Mann|year=1991 (printed 1995)|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1995.198