Life and Loss: Alessandra Sanguinetti’s On the Sixth Day as a Visual Elegy – Book Review

Life and Loss: Alessandra Sanguinetti’s On the Sixth Day as a Visual Elegy – Book Review

Alessandra Sanguinetti’s On the Sixth Day, republished by Mack Books in 2023, is an evocative photobook exploring the lives of animals on a rural Argentine farm. Initially released in 2005 and celebrated for its unsentimental portrayal of life and death in the animal world, this expanded edition includes previously unseen images, enriching the powerful narrative. The title references the biblical creation story, in which animals and humans were brought into existence on the sixth day, grounding the work in a thematic exploration of creation, existence, and mortality. The result is a profoundly poetic and philosophical visual journey, reflecting the rhythms of life while posing profound questions about human relationships with animals.

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All images – Courtesy of the artist and MACK.

A Study of Creation and Mortality

From the opening pages of On the Sixth Day, Sanguinetti plunges the viewer into the textured, visceral world of a small farm. Her photographs chronicle the lives of its inhabitants—pigs, cows, chickens, and horses—capturing their existence from birth to death with a raw and empathetic gaze. Unlike many depictions of animals in art, Sanguinetti avoids sentimentalism, focusing instead on the animals’ lived realities. These are not anthropomorphized creatures performing human-like roles; they are portrayed as autonomous beings, each with unique presences and rhythms.

What makes On the Sixth Day particularly arresting is its willingness to engage with death as an intrinsic part of life. The farm is a space of care, cruelty, creation, and destruction, where animals live at the mercy of human needs and whims. This duality is ever-present in Sanguinetti’s images: a sow nurses her piglets in one frame, while another photograph starkly depicts a carcass, flies swarming its remains. Such juxtapositions force viewers to confront their disconnected understanding of life and death in the natural world.

Visual Poetics: Colour, Light, and Composition

Sanguinetti’s photographic style is a masterclass in capturing the poetic within the mundane. Her use of vibrant, almost surreal colours evokes a dreamlike quality, heightening the emotional resonance of her subjects. The earthy tones of the farm are juxtaposed with bursts of red and orange, symbolizing life’s intensity and fragility. These colour choices lend the images a painterly quality, reminiscent of classical still-life works or Baroque depictions of mortality.

Light plays a critical role in shaping the tone of the series. Sanguinetti often works with natural light, using its shifts to underscore the ephemeral nature of her subjects. The golden glow of sunrise illuminates a scene of grazing cows, while the harsh midday sun casts stark shadows over the farmyard. These variations in light imbue the images with an emotional depth that mirrors the cycles of life unfolding on the farm.

Compositionally, Sanguinetti’s work is grounded in a deep respect for her subjects. She frequently photographs from a low vantage point, aligning her gaze with the animals’ perspective. This creates an immersive quality, drawing viewers into their world rather than imposing a detached, human-centric view. Such framing choices emphasize the individuality of each animal, positioning them as subjects rather than objects.

A Narrative of Birth, Life, and Death

The structure of On the Sixth Day mirrors the cyclical nature of existence, following the animals from birth to their eventual demise. Newborn chicks huddle together for warmth, their fragility almost palpable through the frame. Elsewhere, a calf stares directly into the lens, its gaze imbued with curiosity and wariness. Moments of vitality are punctuated by stark reminders of mortality: a piglet struggles for space in its litter, and in the next sequence, a carcass lies in the dirt, its lifeless form a stark contrast to the earlier scenes of play and competition.

This narrative arc is neither linear nor prescriptive; instead, it feels organic, reflecting the unpredictability of life on the farm. Sanguinetti resists the urge to impose a tidy storyline, allowing the images to speak for themselves. The result is a body of work that feels deeply authentic, grounded in the rhythms of nature rather than the constructs of human storytelling.

Human Presence: The Silent Observer

While On the Sixth Day centres on animal life, human presence looms throughout the series. Farmers’ hands appear in the frame, guiding or restraining the animals; a shadow stretches across the dirt, hinting at the photographer’s presence. These subtle inclusions underscore the complex dynamic between humans and animals on the farm. The animals’ fates are inextricably tied to human intervention, whether as caretakers or predators.

Sanguinetti avoids overt moralizing, instead presenting these relationships as they are. The humans in the photographs are neither heroes nor villains but participants in the cycle of life and death. This nuanced portrayal invites viewers to reflect on their connections to animals as consumers, pet owners, or casual wildlife observers.

The Expanded Edition: New Perspectives

The 2023 edition of On the Sixth Day includes previously unseen images, adding new layers to the original work. These additional photographs deepen the narrative, offering a more comprehensive view of life on the farm. While the original series was already richly textured, the expanded edition feels more robust, allowing viewers to engage with the work’s themes fully.

Notably, the new images introduce a greater sense of continuity, connecting disparate moments into a cohesive whole. A sequence showing the birth of a foal, its first faltering steps juxtaposed with its mother’s weary gaze, is particularly poignant. These moments of tenderness and struggle symbolise the broader narrative, encapsulating the resilience and fragility of life.

Philosophical Reflections: The Ethics of Seeing

One of the most striking aspects of On the Sixth Day is its ability to provoke ethical and philosophical reflection. By presenting animals as individuals rather than abstractions, Sanguinetti challenges viewers to reconsider their relationships with the natural world. How do we reconcile the act of consuming animals with the recognition of their inherent dignity? What does it mean to witness their lives, knowing we are often complicit in their suffering?

These questions are not explicitly addressed within the book but linger in the margins, haunting the viewer long after the final page. Sanguinetti’s refusal to provide easy answers is a testament to her respect for the complexity of her subject matter. Rather than dictating a particular perspective, she creates a space for introspection and dialogue.

The Photobook as Art Form

Beyond its thematic and philosophical depth, On the Sixth Day is a stunning example of the photobook as an art form. The book’s physical design complements the work’s content, with its large format allowing the images to breathe. The sequencing of the photographs is masterful, guiding the viewer through the narrative with a rhythm that mirrors the natural cycles it depicts.

Mack Books’ production values are evident in every detail, from the high-quality printing to the understated design. The book’s tactile elements—the pages’ weight and the cover’s texture—enhance the viewer’s engagement, making flipping through its pages a sensory experience.

Conclusion: A Poetic Meditation on Life

Alessandra Sanguinetti’s On the Sixth Day is a profound and haunting exploration of life, death, and the tenuous balance between the two. Through her empathetic lens, she transforms the mundane realities of farm life into a poetic meditation on existence. The animals she photographs are not merely subjects but protagonists in a larger story about resilience, connection, and the beauty of impermanence.

This expanded edition reaffirms the work’s timeless relevance, offering new insights while retaining the essence of the original. On the Sixth Day is a must-experience for anyone interested in photography, philosophy, or the intersections of art and ethics. It reminds us of photography’s power to illuminate the unseen and prompts us to look, think, and feel more deeply.

On the Sixth Day

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