Untitled c. 1971 - 1975

Curator: Up next, we have an intriguing gelatin-silver print, an untitled work created circa 1971 to 1975 by Sally Mann. Editor: Well, the immediate feel is… bleak. The stark monochrome and that low angle, combined with what seems to be a fog in the background. It's almost oppressive. Curator: What draws me is the apparent stillness but also this incredible tension. Consider the setting – the wall bordering what looks like a graveyard, the rather ordinary street scene dominating the foreground and this white pole running diagonally across, it's almost like the axis around which the whole piece hinges. Given Mann's later focus, it almost feels staged. Editor: It’s the realism that interests me. Look at the textures: the rough, irregular stonework of the wall versus the smooth, worn surface of the asphalt. Then the almost unnatural perfection of the white pole jutting across. Semiotically speaking, the image strikes me as a juxtaposition of permanency and transience. That this landscape shows the human intervention on nature but, this contrasts what naturally decays. Curator: That juxtaposition also manifests in the process. Gelatin-silver prints have a long history. They're very indexical. Capturing light reflecting off materials such as asphalt that became such a feature in postwar American economy with oil becoming one of the largest imports to keep the auto industry afloat. Editor: Ah, but what does the light actually *reveal* here? It’s a stark light that defines form, that pole and emphasizes the contrast, making the composition quite rigid despite the apparent naturalism. There’s not much softness to find here. It isn't romantic. Curator: Precisely. Mann's "Untitled" shows, a very direct reflection on American life. How our world gets constructed around social class with our means of moving about also dictate the division of class. Editor: Perhaps we are seeing her pushing into social critique—and as a study in light, material, and form it prepares her later style and subjects. Curator: This has been such an interesting conversation. It just shows that even in what looks like a simple composition, there are so many ways we can explore the interplay of structure and historical moment, isn't it? Editor: Indeed, and shows how a dedication to the elements themselves can spark further avenues to look at it too.