The work of Sally Mann is nearly the definition of intimacy itself, considering her photographs document the vast majority of her own personal life, in all stages, in all circumstances. Her work is also the intimate view into how she as an individual views her life, her reality and beyond, reaching into the depths of death and the unknown and what defines what she may or may not know. The processes as well as the film products all echo Mann as an individual as well as an artist, they embody a beautiful sort of romanticism and yearning, while they embrace the serendipitous, random chaos that is the way and order of nature. Her various series of work displays this relationship she has with all that is close to her, from her family, to her land, to her own personal views and beliefs of death and decay. She does this with an unapologetic eye, documenting what others might view to be images too intimate or too close of one's own personal life. While there was and is sacrifice in her life as an artist and photographer, there we also large benefits for her as an individual and an artist.
In my own personal life, i find such close documentation to be almost a difficult task, one that i may not come close to capturing, at least not at first. I'm almost sure that a great amount of timidity would come with the diligent photographing of my life, perhaps revealing much more to others, or even myself, that i wish for them to know. However, I'm sure that after the first initial trials and errors, or just overcoming some fears and boundaries I would grow to nurture a fondness and a sort of value to the documentation of what i hold dear to me. Often times, I feel as though such a task would sometimes prove a burden, in all honesty. I found that Mann was living her life as though she were constantly looking for something to capture, she was looking through her eyes as though they were her camera lens. I desire to take my life, my beliefs, my close personal reality and impose it into my work, whether that includes documenting that which is physically and emotionally nearest to me, or whether that includes imposing them into my work in other ways.
In my own experience, i find that i have, over the years, been a documentor of some things over others. Growing up with my maternal grandmother, i have always had a peculiar interest and fascination with her and her lifestyle. Living in Sierra Vista, Arizona, my grandmother is of full Mexican heritage and has always opened my eyes to things that I am not always aware of. When i got my first camera in middle school, i was constantly taking photos of everything that caught my eye. When i went to my grandmother's house, i was fascinated with virtually all that surrounded me, from her home, to her garden, to the mountains that basically grow out of her backyard. I was interested how she had lived, raised her children, mourned the death of her husband there, and was always surrounded by her friends and loved ones. Her house shows so many of her countless memories, the walls are filled with photos, trinkets and seemingly insignificant items that hold nostalgic value to her. Even as she lives there, dust seems to settle over everything, and everything seems to be in a constant state of nostalgia and antiquity, and this is what fascinates me so about her and her home.
Some of my most favourite photographs are of her yard and garden, exploring the tall grass that grows out of once planted flower pots, wheelbarrows, cracks in the concrete. Others include the beautiful mountains that surround her entire house and the tiny dirt road that lead up to the house, dotted with other little farm shantys. But most recently, i have become interested in photographing her. As she has been aging, her memory has not been the most faithful to her, and i often find myself repeating the same stories to her. Yet she still has the same vivacious spark to her, and she lets none of it stop or slow her down. Some of my most favourite photographs of her include close ups of her as she sits in her chair, illuminated by the lamp that is next to her. Her eyes are sparkling and the wrinkles seem all that much deeper, yet she still has such a proud and stately grace to her. While it often times is difficult to see a general decline in her memory, it makes the photographs all the more precious and valuable to me, to see images of this great, aging woman on the outside and knowing just by a single look or moment in a photograph just how much more depth lies beneath.
With this in mind, it seems so much more valuable and urgent, in a way to capture what is there, while it still remains. Even my own life, which seems to have constants, is constantly changing. Every day is different, and every object, person, idea and place is not the same one day to the next. That is what i believe Sally Mann has in mind with her photographs. She diligently captured photographs of her children because they were precious to her. She documents the slow decline of her husband's health because every day spend with him seems to have a greater value to it. Perhaps this is why many people document through photographs, and it is not for the pure sake of nostalgia or memories. It is because the art and beauty in something today may be completely gone tomorrow, changed and never to come back. Although tomorrow may hold something as great, or even greater than the days preceding it, it would be tragic to lose and forget about the art and beauty of today.
good job.
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