I found this while rummaging through some old emails. It was written in 2008 to a fellow blogger in the days when I used to write more about other photographers as apposed to just showcasing myself.. 

Anyways I thought I would post it's just as relevant today.  

 I follow your blog often and enjoy your writing. I was compelled to write after reading your piece 'On Doubt ' regarding the work on Sally Mann. I have often thought that many photographers and artists have a period in their career when they produce their finest body of work. Usually this is the work that happens to bring them notoriety be it Joel Meyerowitz's Cape Light, Misrach's Desert Cantos, Robert Frank's The Americans so on and so forth. With regards to Sally Mann, I could not agree with you more and feel that her new work is thin and weak in comparison to her earlier work. I really do feel this is the case with so many photographers and always wonder if they actually know if their work is not as 'good '  as it used to be. I have debated this theory many times and often end in saying;

 "How can the work be as fresh and dynamic as it used to be. A photographer may not have the energy, the freedom, the ideas, or as clear a vision as they had when they where younger and commitments tend to take over and life gets in the way..."

This is of course only my opinion and I have yet to make it fully public but I do think its a theory worth thinking about..

M. Doyle