Art Work by Sally Mann

Art Work

On the Creative Life

Sally Mann

Abrams Press · Print & ebook · September 9, 2025

“A big and beautiful gift-worthy holiday art book” (New York Times), this new bookby artist Sally Mann about the challenges and transcendent pleasures of the creative process, is now a New York Times bestseller. “Erudite, frank, and funny.” —Amor Towles, bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow and The Lincoln Highway Offering a spellbinding mix of wild and illuminating stories, practical (and some impractical) advice, and life lessons, Art Work, by photographer and writer Sally Mann, is not to be missed.

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Who it’s for
Sally Mann considers creativity in frank, funny prose, alongside photographs, journal entries, and letters.
Themes
Creativity and the creative process, Hard work, rejection, and risk-taking
Genres
Artists' Lives, Photography Writing, Unlocking Creativity

About this book

“A big and beautiful gift-worthy holiday art book” (New York Times), this new bookby artist Sally Mann about the challenges and transcendent pleasures of the creative process, is now a New York Times bestseller.

Continue reading

“Erudite, frank, and funny.” —Amor Towles, bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow and The Lincoln Highway Offering a spellbinding mix of wild and illuminating stories, practical (and some impractical) advice, and life lessons, Art Work, by photographer and writer Sally Mann, is not to be missed. Written in the same direct, fearless, and occasionally outrageous tone of her bestselling memoir, Hold Still, this new book reaffirms Mann as a unique and resonant voice for our times and is destined to become a classic. Illustrated throughout with photographs, journal entries, and letters that bring immediacy and poignancy to the narrative, Art Work is full of thought-provoking insights about the hazards of early promise; the unpredictable role of luck; the value of work, work, work, and more hard work; the challenges of rejection and distraction; the importance of risk-taking; and the rewards of knowing why and when you say yes. In sparkling prose and thoughtfully juxtaposed visuals and ephemera, Art Work is a generous, provocative, and compulsively readable exploration of creativity by one of our most original thinkers.

Making the Work

Sally Mann considers creativity in frank, funny prose, alongside photographs, journal entries, and letters.

Come here for

  • Thoughtful company on risk, rejection, luck, and the working life
  • A vivid blend of stories, advice, and visual ephemera

Expect

  • Direct reflections on the challenges and pleasures of creating
  • A mix of practical and impractical advice

Where it sits

Unlocking Creativity55%
Artists' Lives27%
Photography Writing27%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Studying Artists
  • Personal Memoirs
  • Photography Writing
  • Unlocking Creativity
Authors
Sally Mann
Publisher
Abrams Press
Published
September 9, 2025
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Creativity and the creative process · Hard work, rejection, and risk-taking
Reading lane
Studying Artists