Sally Mann

1. Which of the artists many technical choices are of interest to you and why?

Sally Mann's use of black and white traditional analog photography fascinates me. She makes pictures of contemporary landscapes and people of the south; these technical choices suggest the south's landscape and people are still very haunted by what they would rather stay dead. Some of the photos waver blur and distort as people wish they could forget the south's horrific past or worse manipulate the horror into a romantic antebellum vision. 

2. What do you believe are the artists conceptual and/or thematic intentions?

Mann's black and white photography is appropriate as she wishes to portray the stark truth. The south is not innocent and free of the consequences of the slave trade, civil war, and jim crow laws. The echoes of the past are still heard today. The south's wounds are ignored, left open to fester. Sally presents the first step to healing, facing the fact that the south is wounded. Only once the south can admit and face its past then the south can repent its sins and heal.

3. How do you personally respond to these choices and intents?

I am deeply moved that Sally Mann choses local and seemingly ordinary content to portray the much deeper moral, and psychological conflicts the south faces regarding its past. As a woman growing up in Georgia surrounded by the classist  southern aristocracy these photos are more deeply felt. The southern aristocratic culture, though watered down from the past is still very toxic and needs to be seen, addressed and felt. The pressure I felt in high school to maintain the status quo of public success, wealth, and ease ate a hole in my stomach. Literally, I got an ulcer. Possibly, for similar reasons, three of my peers committed suicide; however, I do not know the minds or experiences of the deceased. Like much southern gothic literature portrays, the southern aristocracy is killing itself in trying to maintain its pride.