Sally Mann- Brian Dove

The Sally Mann exhibit at the VMFA was one of the most impressive shows I have seen. A lot of artwork is infinitely more impressive when viewed in person and Mann’s prints definitely fall into that category. The Body Farm series was uncomfortable to look at. These photographs of decomposing bodies bring about a sense of hollow loneliness that is different from the kind of loneliness a living being feels. Maybe this is influenced by my own views of death and the afterlife.

Another thing that impacted me was Mann’s series of self-portraits. In the video documentary that played at the end of the exhibit, Sally Mann speaks about how she is a very restless person and doing these six-minute exposure self-portraits becomes almost therapeutic for her. When viewing Mann’s self-portraits, one can definitely begin to feel a cornucopia of emotions in her facial expressions.

Sally Mann

As I see with others this is one of my favorite images. The exhibit "Matter Lent" was done in 2000-01. The color prints were printed in 2010. The enlargements were made from 8x10 collodion wet-plate negatives. She photographed this series after the Civil War battlefield images were made. After unearthing and photographing the remains of a family dog she was inspired to do this series. Mann visited the University of Tennessee's Forensic Anthropology Center a.k.a. The Body Farm. A few of these exist, it's a place where unclaimed and donated bodies are left to rot for scientific study. With the mix of rotting and decaying flesh and with the collodion wet-plate process technique often echoing the process of physical decay it worked well together. The black and white images mute out thoughts that the color prints show, like the colors of the bodies and the surroundings. I wasn't expecting to turn the corner and see color on the walls in contrast to most of her other images. They hit me in a way different way then the black and white images.

As for the rest of her show I really didn't particularly care for. I've always liked Sally Mann but I walked pretty fast through her show until I got to "Matter Lent" then I actually spent some time with the photos in that area of the show.