There were many amazing pieces of art at the Howard Greenberg Gallery, however the one that captured my attention the most was Untitled (Self-Portrait) by Sally Mann. This photograph is 15 x 13 inches from 2012, and is created using an unique collodion wet-plate positive on metal with sandarac varnish. For a wet plate collodion, you have to make the picture on a metal plate while the emulsion is still wet. This is not an easy process to control, which adds to the theme of this photograph and helps set the mood.
At first glance, the picture seems very haunting. Its as if the woman’s face has been violently destroyed. The woman’s face seems to be behind this sort of shadow, which covers almost her entire face. Toward the bottom of the photograph, there are these blotches of black color, which is probably the emulsion. The use of the collodion is very profound in this photograph because to add the texture of the shadow and scars to the woman’s face would require the photographer to do this by hand, after getting the original image to be in the background. When I looked into the woman’s eyes, although they show pain, it wasn’t the most striking detail in the picture. This was very surprising to me because usually in self- portraits a persons eyes strike the viewer. However, the first thing to strike me was the textured shadow all over her face. This photograph is very dark and detailed, perhaps depicting a difficult time in this woman’s life.
I was also very intrigued by this photograph because of the unusual distressed overlay and the blurred face. Sally Mann does seem to have a haunted expression on her face, although the details are difficult to discern. Perhaps she was expressing her feelings about her past. Mann grew up in the South in a family with quite an interesting history of deceit, scandal, alcohol, domestic abuse, money, murder, and racial complications. In order to express these feelings and reflections about her own family, Mann utilized the wet collodion process to add the disruptive shadow across her face. This shadow and other imperfections in the photograph lend themselves quite well to the creation of a haunting, yet somewhat enigmatic piece. Although the shadow covers one eye and the other is blurry, I still find Mann’s stare to be quite piercing. Unlike the clear, striking photographs of Matthias Olmeta, Mann’s photograph conveys her emotions through the one eye and its distressed surroundings. I also like that this photograph seems to pull you both in and out – the shadow across her face makes you want to come and take a closer look to find out what’s underneath it, while the blurriness of the face makes you want to take a step back to get a clearer picture of her entire face.
Yes thats right Mindy