Talking About Two Controversial Books by Sally Man
Note: This is my opinion, not an unbiased look at the works or a clinical analyzation of them. Sally Mann often used a very old style of photography to capture her images. It was Silver jell on a glass plate in a box style camera. This made black and white images of remarkable depth for the kind processing that was involved. Obviously more refined than in the days of old when the process was first popularized. Although there are some remarkable images from the 1860’s out there. I’m going to be talking about the social perception of the books, “What Remains,” and “Intimate Family.” Both of these books caused an uproar in society when they came out and continue to do so until today. To a lesser extent there is the inclusion of, “At Twelve” in this light, but I’m not talking about that one today. First, I’ll talk about, “What Remains.” This book of photos is about the process of death and decay – how we return to the earth as it were. Most of it is shot on a “body farm” where they study ...
