"What Remains": Sally Mann Response

Sally Mann in her "What Remains" documentary highlights her artistic process and her photo showcases. Mann documents her own life and the emotional journeys she went through. I liked the artistic and life advice she gives. I liked her quote, "As an artist, your trajectory just has to keep going up. And the thing that most subverts your next good body of work…is all the work you’ve taken before." I think artists, especially professional ones in the public space, feel that they have to change the aesthetics and direction of their work entirely to stay fresh. This is done as a way to stay relevant in the public eye, but also as a way to not feel fatigued and tired of one's work. I feel that as a digital and analogue illustrator starting out, I already feel the need to experiment with different themes in my work. I think that a lot of artists should try other aesthetics and even other mediums, when they feel exhausted and have artist's block. I was fascinated by Sally Mann's "Death" series and her alternative perspective on death and afterlife. Mann went out of her way to photograph human corpses, animals, as well as the vibrant lives of her children. Mann embraces all the stages of life in her "Death" series, including death itself. She says, "Americans are weird about death. They think it’s gross and disgusting..and they get freaked out, and they want it put as far away as possible, and keep it out of sight…and keep it in the nursing homes, and close the coffin. They don’t want to see it as an organic part of life.” I honestly like this unique perspective unlike the general cultural abhorrence and silence to it. I agree with the sentiment that people should try to come to terms to death in a graceful, spiritual way. That is probably healthier than treating old age and death as a mortifying, evil thing that shouldn't be discussed. Overall informative, great documentary.