By David Moreno
Fort Worth Report
Originally published Jan. 30, 2025
Weeks after Fort Worth police seized photographs featured in a Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth exhibit, the city has declined to release documents related to its investigation into child pornography allegations.
Earlier this month, the Fort Worth Police Department confirmed they had launched an investigation into decades-old images by Virginia-born photographer Sally Mann that were featured as part of the “Diaries of Home” exhibition, which opened Nov. 17. The investigation followed a series of Dallas Express articles quoting County Judge Tim O’Hare, among other Republican leaders, calling for the photographs to be investigated and removed.
Mann had 21 pieces included in the “Diaries of Home” exhibition co-curated by Chief Curator Andrea Karnes and Assistant Curator Clare Milliken, including a handful from the 1980s that featured the artist’s then-young children. The images removed from the exhibit include a photo centered on Mann’s naked daughter jumping onto a picnic table and another portrait of her son with popsicle drips running down his torso, legs and genitals.
No charges have been filed in the case, a police spokesperson told the Report Jan. 30. The department confirmed it is storing the photographs in its police property room. The Modern did not respond to a request for comment on the investigation.