Update 9:07 a.m. March 27: This story has been updated to include comments from the Fort Worth Police Department that the photographs will be returned to the museum.
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A Texas grand jury this week declined to indict a Lexington-based photographer whose photos were seized by Texas police and the museum where the photos were on display.
The artist Sally Mann and the Modern Museum of Fort Worth will not face charges related to child pornography for having pictures of her naked children on display as part of an exhibit.
Mann, who was born in and still resides in Lexington, declined to comment for this story. Michael Anderson, an attorney representing the museum, said in a statement that he “thanks the Tarrant County Grand Jury’s thorough review in this matter.
“The Modern is the oldest museum in the State of Texas,” Anderson said. “It proudly serves the Fort Worth community and beyond and will continue to maintain the highest of standards.”
The case stemmed from photographs from Mann’s “Immediate Family” collection that were on display at the museum as part of its larger “Diaries of Home” exhibit.
The exhibit, which aimed to share the “dynamics of both biological and constructed families,” began Nov. 17 and ran until Feb. 2, but Mann’s photographs were seized by the Fort Worth Police Department from the museum by Jan. 7
Among the photographs were “Popsicle Drips,” an image of her then-elementary school-aged son’s genitals surrounded by popsicle drips, and “The Perfect Tomato,” a picture of her young daughter performing a dance move on a picnic table, naked.
The photographs have periodically stirred controversy since they were distributed nationally in 1992. Some viewers appreciated the serene aspect of the photos of Mann’s kids and the tribulations of parenting, messes and all, but others questioned the appropriateness of sharing intimate photos of her children in such a way.
Amid it all, Time magazine named Mann 2001’s America’s Best Photographer.
After the Fort Worth exhibit went live, news outlets reported on the photographs, raising questions of child pornography. On Jan. 8, a Tarrant County judge posted on X that “Sexual exploitation of a minor, including under the guise of ‘art,’ should never be tolerated,” and he encouraged police “to thoroughly investigate this matter and take appropriate action.”
But Tuesday, a grand jury “declined to take any action against employees of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth over the exhibition of Sally Mann’s photos,” the Tarrant County district attorney’s office said in a statement.
“The Grand Jury process is confidential,” the statement continued in response to questions, including what led to the grand jury’s decision.
The police department did not provide a statement to Cardinal News by publication time. According to the Fort Worth Report, a local news outlet, a police spokesperson said that the department respects the decision and the seized photographs will be returned to the museum.
The seizure of the photos garnered the attention of free speech and civil liberty advocacy groups, including the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, the National Coalition Against Censorship and the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas. The three groups sent a letter to the police chief saying that the seizure was illegal and violated First Amendment free-speech protections. The Association of Art Museum Directors issued a statement condemning “any effort to censor the presentation.”
On Wednesday, Aaron Terr, director of public advocacy at FIRE, said, “Grand juries exist to prevent baseless and malicious prosecutions — and this one did just that.
“The investigation into Mann’s art was a sham from the start,” Terr said. “Instead of targeting constitutionally protected expression that upsets politicians, the Fort Worth Police Department and Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office should focus on actual crime.”
Terr said his group did not receive a response to the group’s letter, “but we’ll continue monitoring the situation.”
“The police must immediately return the seized photos,” said Terr. “Each day they remain in police custody compounds the violation of Mann’s and the museum’s First Amendment rights.”
Cardinal News filed a records request with the city of Fort Worth for documents leading to the seizure, but the records were withheld over claims that they contained child pornography and were part of an ongoing investigation. The city sought an opinion from the office of Attorney General Ken Paxton on the matter.
The city did not release the records, and the police department did not provide a statement to Cardinal News by publication time.
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Correction 9:07 a.m. March 27: The year that Sally Mann published “Immediate Family” was incorrect in an earlier version of this story.
