Sally Mann – Hold Still

This is described as “A Memoir with Photographs” and describes Mann’s life, while exploring the lives of her forebears through photographs, information passed down verbally and in writing, and research.

It is also a story of life and death.

Sally Mann talks about the death of family members, including her father, but that is not all.

She talks about the death of a beloved dog and what happened to it afterwards.

Mann shares the story of the time a wanted man, an armed wanted man, made their way onto the family property while she was home alone.

Fortunately, the police arrived before the fugitive could make his way to the house. This ensured her safety but led to the man losing his life.

Looking at the place he died afterwards, her view of it was forever changed.

Mann talks in detail about her time spent at the Body Farm, photographing the corpses of deceased people, left outside on the ground so that the decomposition of their bodies could be studied and measured for science and to expand our knowledge of what happens to the lump of flesh that we inhabit after out lifeforce no longer animates it.

Death fascinates Mann, whether it is historical as depicted by her exploration of the South and the Civil War history and locations, or whether it is more recent.

Mann’s photographs are like Nan Goldin’s. A way to fix memories in place so that they can’t be changed as individuals, or entire nations, move onwards trying to alter perceptions of the past so that it is more favourable towards them and the people that built the foundations of the societies we live within.

References

1. Mann, S. (2016) Hold Still – A Memoir with Photographs. (5th ed.) New York: Hachette Book Group.