Some Say Ice | Magnum Gallery
Alessandra Sanguinetti, Black River Falls, Wisconsin, USA, 2014. © Alessandra Sanguinetti/Magnum Photos
Written by Madeline Lerner
Photography's undeniable significance lies in its role as a record of past and present lives. As a relatively recent tool in human history, it has managed to provide evidence to each generation of those that have come before. However, engaging with documentation portraying the everyday lives of communities distant from our own experiences or those traditionally overlooked is rare. In Alessandra Sanguinetti’s series entitled “Some Say Ice” at the Magnum Gallery in Paris, we see a documentation of a specific reality in Black River Falls, Wisconsin. Drawing inspiration from Michael Lesy’s Wisconsin Death Trip, Sanguinetti captures quiet moments in a rather bleak environment.
Alessandra Sanguinetti, Fillmore St. Black River Falls, Wisconsin, USA, 2021. © Alessandra Sanguinetti/Magnum Photos
Michael Lesy’s haunting 1973 nonfiction book documenting life in Black River Falls just before the turn of the 20th century captures tragic, bizarre, and bleak moments of pre-war Jackson County, Wisconsin. It truly embodies many of the broader struggles of the northern Midwest at the time. For Sanguinetti, the many troubled faces in Lesy’s book served as an important inspiration for her interest in documentative photography. It is a reminder of her mortality— she was fascinated by the many that came before her who would have otherwise been forgotten if not for the book. Thus, she made it her mission to document those still with us with the same investigative passion. In this series, she returns to Lesy’s Black River Falls and, over an eight-year period, documents the community and culture of the cold, rural region.
Alessandra Sanguinetti, Fall Players, Black River Falls, Wisconsin, USA, 2018. © Alessandra Sanguinetti/Magnum Photos
Focusing on a combination of people, places, and animals, she tells a distinct story about life in Jackson County. Using photos like one of a snow-covered laundromat at night, Sanguinetti establishes the backdrop within the desolate landscapes of both the natural and constructed environments in Black River Falls. She captures quiet moments in black and white, often cooled by the presence of snow or the subtle cues towards mortality. There are, too, small, beautiful moments of joy, still captured in her austere way, like young girls playing with their shadows on the side of a one-floored home, or two young boys laying upside down on a vintage couch.
Alessandra Sanguinetti, Hayward, Wisconsin, USA, 2022. © Alessandra Sanguinetti/Magnum Photos
Sanguinetti also captures the details of animals living in the wilderness. She focuses on their wet fur and dirty hooves, portraying them as calm but resilient creatures. They are the gentle companions of humans, sharing the harsh environment of the northern Midwest. Human subjects seldom show emotions, a deliberate choice she explains isn't necessarily to convey unhappiness but to mirror the reality of solitude; emotions are often an internal experience. For an outsider, the images are remarkably intimate. The subjects are at ease, and Sanguitti draws out a vulnerability in them— even the animals— that strikes to the core.
“Some Say Ice” is on view on the 50th anniversary of the highly influential Wisconsin Death Trip. See the exhibit at Magnum Gallery in Paris through December 23rd.
