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Salzburg, Austria

"No place is boring if you've had a good night's sleep and a pocket full of film." - Robert Adams
​
"Tea first, then photography..." - Philip Lee Harvey

From an Article written by Philip Lee Harvey

What Remains: The Life and Work of Sally Mann

5/25/2018

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I began downloading some photography documentaries and watching them. I do not enjoy them as much as a photography book, mostly because I can't stop and just look at the picture without the narrative changing my viewing. But I do find them fascinating to get to know the photographers themselves.

Speaking about yourself and your art is never easy. Effectively we are seeing the image of the person they want us to see, but occasionally we get a little peak behind the mask and walk away with a bit more insight into the photographers we love.

And so it is in "What Remains", a documentary about Sally Mann. I first saw a photograph of hers back in 1999 or so. I was in New Orleans and I walked into a gallery to see a mixed set of prints by different photographers. I remember seeing these half naked kids looking like they were in a dream. The image impacted me but it bothered me as well. This is long before I had kids of my own, hence I considered nudity of any type from a single perspective. Only after seeing the joy and freedom my kids had when very young did I begin to see that picture in a different light.

What Remains is a biographical documentary where Sally does most of the talking. You get glimpses into their family dynamic and are left wondering how it must all work. This is not a critical contemplation but a true curiosity which comes from seeing another persons life and trying to understand it.

You see Sally speak with such pride in her work she seems unstoppable. But then you see one of her projects get rejected from a New York gallery and you see the timid, delicate side of Sally. The fact that the documentary captured both extremes so very well is one reason this is one of my favorite photography documentary.

The second reason I like it so much is that they mix footage from the 1990's with their latest fillings. This gives us a chance to see Sally working on three very different projects, one about her family, one about landscapes and finally one about death and decay.

The final reason I like this documentary is that it shows her working. Few documentary spend more than a few minutes of B roll on the photographer at their work. What Remains spends a great deal more time showing how she works.

The film quality is great, the insights are interesting and the human element of pain, enjoyment, desease and family all come through. It will leave you with more insight into how the photographer views her own work. One thing is for sure, you will not see a Sally Mann picture the same way again.
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Photos used under Creative Commons from left-hand, Ant Jackson, Skley, mikecogh, Helen.Yang, TheeErin, Dean Hochman, CJS*64, DaveR1988, FootMassagez, Loco Steve, dmytrok, Christiaan Colen
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Vintage Cameras
    • Argus 75
    • Brownie Flash II
    • Contax G2
    • Ensign Selfix 820
    • FED-1 (PE0320)
    • Graflex Crown Graphic
    • Ihagee Exa
    • Leica M6
    • Nikon S2
    • Nikon F
    • Nikon F2
    • Nikon F3
    • Nikon FA
    • Olympus OM-1
    • Olympus OM-2 SPOT
    • Olympus Stylus
    • Pentacon Six
    • Pentax Spotmatic IIa
    • Rollei 35
    • Voigtlander 15mm ver III
    • Yashica C
    • Zeiss Ikon Nettar 515/2
  • Learning Composition
    • The Monochrome Diaries
    • Single & Multi Elements
    • Symmetry
    • Keep the Right Strong
    • Framing
    • Color in Composition
    • Deep Dive Bubble Man
    • Photo Assignments
  • Darkroom Lessons
    • Building a Sink
    • Air Ventilation
    • Analyser Pro
    • Development Hints
    • Primer for Film Photography
    • Bulk Loading Film
    • Pushing & Pulling Film
    • Color Development
    • Digital Contact Sheets
    • Stick to One Film Stock?
    • HP5+ Shot at 200 ISO
    • HP5 Shot at 1600 ISO
    • HP5 Shot at 3200 ISO
    • Medium Format
    • Washing Film
    • Split Grade Printing
    • Using Distilled Water in Film Development
    • Darkroom Paper
    • Foma100 EI 400
  • Photography Books & Films
    • Colin O'Brien
    • Lartigue Life in Color
    • Magnum Contact Sheets
    • Top Photography Movies
    • William Eggleston's Guide
    • Helen Levitt
    • Sally Mann Immediate Family
    • Saul Leiter Early B&W
    • Leica 100 yrs
    • Calendar Days of Asaya Hamaya
    • The Decisive Moment
    • Regarding Women
    • Robert Capa in Love and War
  • Single Image Deep Dive
    • Sergio Larrain "A Man After Dark"
    • Colin O'Brien 'Comings & Goings"
    • Erwitt Mother & Child
    • Man Running
    • Samuel Becket
    • Koudelka Wristwatch
    • Dovima with Elephants