The image by Sally Mann shows a little girl
standing at the back of jeep next to a dead buck which is slumped in the boot
of the jeep, the bucks head is hanging down out of the boot of the jeep while
the little girl who is dressed in a tutu is posing for the camera in a youthful
happy manor as if she is proud of herself. There is a bucket in the bottom left
hand corner of the image that sits on the gravel covered floor.
The way the little girl is posing seems to
show that she is pleased with herself and I think that this relates to the buck
she is standing next to. I think that this shows the buck as a trophy and the
little girl is pleased at the fact the buck has been killed and captured. The
fact the little girl is wearing a tutu puts emphasis on the idea of show and
being proud of what is in the image as this type of clothing is associated with
dancing and performing.
In my eyes the buck is shown as trophy
although the little girl clearly had no part in its killing or capture but she
seems happy enough to be pictured next to it and I think that the fact she is
young makes it easy for the viewer accept what is in the image. I think that if
the picture was taken in a living room with the bucks head on the wall it would
be the reverse of this image and I think this is what the semiotics are of this
image. Being in black and white the image has a slight deathly undertone to it
but the lighting is natural and would suggest that this killing is normal.