While widely known for intimate portraits of her children (as seen in lot 236), Sally Mann’s work transcends portraiture, often dealing with an array of themes relating to family, land, history and the South. In Battlefields, part of the larger body of work Last Meausure (2000-2003), Mann photographed sites of violent Civil War battles, including Cold Harbor, Manassas, and Antietam, as seen here. Working with the 19th century wet-plate collodion process, Mann embraced the unpredictable nature of the medium by incorporating flaws, be it streaks, scratches, light flares or dust, into the final product. She additionally coated the prints with a varnish containing diatomaceous earth, the fossilized remains of tiny, aquatic organisms, which allows for a subtle transformation of the surface over time. This unusual, gritty element underscores the haunting nature of these landscapes as historical graveyards and further illustrates the weight of the past on the present.
