Texas has dropped charges against Sally Mann after a grand jury declined to take action against the controversial photographer and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth where her photos were exhibited in January.
Mann was facing accusations of child pornography. A Tarrant County judge had been a fierce critic of Mann’s pictures saying, “Sexual exploitation of a minor, under the guise of ‘art,’ should never be tolerated,” Judge Tim O’Hare wrote on X, on January 8.
Four photos were confiscated from the exhibition Diaries of Home which was playing host to 13 documentary photographers, including Mann.
Complaints about Mann’s photos started when a reporter from conservative online news outlet The Dallas Express visited the exhibit and accused the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth of “promoting child pornography.”
Mann’s work is well-known in the photography world for her intimate portraits of children which have received both acclaim and criticism. A federal prosecutor once told Mann that some of her photos could subject her to arrest.
Kera News reports that Judge O’Hare had no insight into the grand jury’s decision, which is confidential. Nevertheless, he insisted that the photos are “grossly inappropriate” and have “no place in our society.”
“Children must be protected by our institutions,” he adds. “These images do the opposite. ”
After the photos were seized, an international artist group condemned the Texas authorities calling it a “brazen act of censorship.” Three civil liberties organizations also penned a joint letter declaring the photographs were “unconstitutionally seized.”
“The Modern thanks the Tarrant County Grand Jury’s thorough review in this matter,” says Michael Anderson of Kelly Hart Attorneys on behalf of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, per ArtNet. “The Modern is the oldest museum in the State of Texas. It proudly serves the Fort Worth community and beyond and will continue to maintain the highest of standards.”
The police and the museum have not revealed what will happen to the four confiscated photos. Mann, who has kept quiet throughout, defended her work in 2015, writing that “all too often, nudity, even that of children, is mistaken for sexuality, and images are mistaken for actions.”
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