Location: Helsinki, Finland for over 14 years now.
Posts: 755
Sally Mann's exhibition in Helsinki under police investigation
A Sally Mann exhibition is running at Helsinki's "Tennis Palace" and attracting controversy. Heard on the radio that a "group of seven people" have asked the police to investigate whether certain of the pictures are "hurtful to humanity" (a rough translation of the Finnish). I've been to see the show, which comprises some of the older pictures of her children including all the most famous ones, a series of large wet-plate landscapes, a series of large close-up portraits of a daughter, and a series of wet-plate studies of murder victims.
What did I think... Well, the pictures of her children certainly do not constitute child pornography, not in this universe or any number of alternate ones. A couple of these pictures are exceptional, very beautiful. I was disappointed in the print-making, which was heavy-handed. Much isolating of the central figure and heavy, heavy, heavy burning down of all surroundings.
Of the landscapes, one was exceptional to my mind. Useless to try to describe it. The rest were not particularly interesting, southern gothic sounding a monotonous note.
The series of large, close-up pictures of her daughter -- perhaps 10 in all, wet-plate, rough application of emulsion, there was graphical interest yes, relying on the spontaneousness of the medium used rough. Not much progression from picture to picture. Maybe would repay longer contemplation.
Turning to the hurting of humanity, the picture of a dead obese woman, naked, lying face down, her corpse decaying, the flesh falling away, who has been brutally tortured as evidenced by wires around her wrists having visibly dug into the flesh splayed open and pulpy, her body dumped in a forest clearing, decaying leaves piled up against her rancid buttocks, the large format camera placed close, the angle of view slightly downwards, the wet plate emulsified on the spot presumably amidst the buzzing of flies and the stench of death.
I felt a pang of embarrassment for the photographer, who obviously does not understand. But I inspected the pictures, which are very well done technically, and strode out of the room washing myself mentally as I went. The pictures are not hurtful to humanity, they are merely beneath contempt. Just another iteration of the bile spewing across the nation's television screens, iPods and computer monitors. If the Helsinki police condemn these pictures, they must condemn much else as well.
I am always curious and suspicious how a photographer other than a scenes of crime police photographer ever comes across such bodies? Did she just stumble upon it? Did someone else find it and his/her first thought is:" I must call photographer X before I report my finding to anyone else?"
Does the picture carry a history of its capture and the purpose of its taking. If so I'd like to hear it. I am sure I lead a very sheltered life compared to Sally Mann and no doubt most other professional photographers but I could live to be 150 and I am sure I'd never come across a dead body in a forest and certainly not in this state. If I did I hope my first instinct wouldn't be to photograph it.
If the police were to hold an exhibition of all the factory and road accident deaths in the U.K. it would be rightly condemned for its tastelessness to say the least and possible its offence to humanity. I certainly wouldn't want to live in a country where the police wanted to exhibit such pictures. I understand the need for photojournalism to bring home to people instances of inhumanity as part of an accompanying campaign but this is completely different to the purpose behind the exhibition above.
In this world life is still cheaper than it deserves to be and the human race has a worrying talent for cheapening it.
Many years ago, in the early days of the Internet, there were a few services who would forward messages while disguising the originator. These so-called "anonymous" forwarders served mainly to facillitate the uncontrolled spread of pornography.
And where was the most famous of these servers located? Yup, Finland.
I am always curious and suspicious how a photographer other than a scenes of crime police photographer ever comes across such bodies? Did she just stumble upon it? Did someone else find it and his/her first thought is:" I must call photographer X before I report my finding to anyone else?"
pentaxuser
Pentaxuser,
It's been a long time since I saw the prints in question, but I do remember that in her book, SM states that the images were shot at a body farm with full permission. Info on body farms here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_Farm
I definitely don't care to look at the dead people images myself and didn't feel they were particular well shot or printed, but there's nothing terribly sinister about how they were made.
Sally Mann's exhibition in Stockholm was also discussed in terms of child pornography when it arrived but in the end it turned out to be one of the most popular exhibits of the year and the criticism faded away in favor for the quality of the artist's work.
Regarding her work on dead bodies, she had access to a "body farm" for forensic studies where the various stages of decay was studied. There's a recent TV documentary about Mann where one can follow her photographic journey from the family pictures to the body farm work.
BTW, I really enjoyed her exhibition!
Some of the forensics laboratory "body farm" photos were included in her exhibition and book "What Remains". In the context of that project they were effective and not at all like the "bile" described. They probably present a different tone when viewed as part of a general exhibit so I can understand the reaction to a certain extent. "What Remains" dealt with death and literally what is left behind after death, culminating with the photos of her children--her legacy after she is gone.
Her landscapes transcend the standard concepts with the use of wet plates, uneven emulsion applications and widely varying exposures. I like them. I've said before you may have to be Southern to get the emotions that come across in her landscapes. Without that feeling, they might appear to be just poorly executed experiments.
These so-called "anonymous" forwarders served mainly to facillitate the uncontrolled spread of pornography.
And where was the most famous of these servers located? Yup, Finland.
Go figure.
I wonder if this really is true. How do you know about it?
Well, about the exhibition. I guess I have to see it after it has been advertised with this day's news. And it is not really under Police investigation; a group of people has only asked the police to take a look at the matters. The police decides then whether if will need any actions.
That reminds me, that I ought to see the exhibition.
The 'body farm' pictures were taken at the FBI forensics farm that plants donated and unclaimed bodies outdoors so their scientists can observe exactly how bodies decay over time. The information gained is valuable for investigating crime scenes. It allows the investigators to make informed guesses as to time of death, place of death etc.... The 'farm' is in Virginia, which is also where Sally Mann lives. She had permission from the FBI for her access, obviously.
The book 'What Remains' is a very hard book to peruse, precisely because it is taking an unblinking look at a subject we'd rather not think about on any deep level: mortality and death and its somewhat democratic application to the entire human population. And the point I believe that she is making is that the objects in the photos do not represent the human beings - but rather the meat locker that contained the 'real person' and the personality and humanity that is no longer there. Anyway, that is my take on it.
I agree with the poster that this stuff is weird to look at. It is uncomfortable and scary. But no one is making you look at it either. If you don't like it, then turning on your heels and walking away is totally permitted.
__________________
I just want to feel nostalgic like I used to.
I wonder if this really is true. How do you know about it?
Actually, it is true, at least the bit about Finland being the site of a popular "anonymizer" server:
Quote:
The Penet remailer (anon.penet.fi) was a pseudonymous remailer (type 0) operated by Johan "Julf" Helsingius of Finland from 1993 to 1996. Its initial creation stemmed from an argument in a Finnish newsgroup over whether people should be required to tie their real name to their online communications
And it was also true that anon.penet.fi did handle a lot of early postings of porn files, primarily on the USENET network. However, that wasn't the server's only use -- being anonymous was often desired at the time. It was a different time than today...
Sally Mann's exhibition in Helsinki under police investigation 
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