Sally Mann
Untitled#7
from the series "Antietam"
2000
gelatin silver print with varnish

Going to the Sally Mann exhibit really opened up my perspective on the kind of stories that documentary/narrative photography could have. I also really appreciated that the museum decided to include some of her early work with her children that made her popular. I thought the study on decomposing bodies was very interesting, as well as the study of her husband after he was diagnosed with his muscle condition. However the work that really interested me was the battle filed series she did in Antietam. This series originated from her witnessing a murder in her own backyard by the police killing a fugitive. She observed the area were the man died and became very interested in documenting landscapes where mass murders occurred. This eventually lead to her series on decomposing bodies.