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THE WORK OF MARY ELLEN MARK Laurie, Ward 81, 1976 by Mary Ellen Mark |
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The photographs
of Mary Ellen Mark lie somewhere between social documentary photography
and photojournalism. Her work has been published in such magazines as
LIFE, LOOK, The New York Times Magazine and The
Times and she has published numerous books, including Passport,
Ward 81, Streetwise and Falkland Road: Prostitutes of Bombay.
Mark's photographs should be looked at as individual images, able to stand alone and tell a complete story. Her photographs are mostly black and white, which may add to the drama of the already charged images. The common thread in her work has always been a central interest in people. The people she photographs are the "unfamous," those who occcupy the fringes of society, whose stories might otherwise never be told. Her work offers a different perspective on such societal concerns as homelessness, drug addiction, mental illness and teenage pregnancy.   Mark tends to seek out individuals
in their own environments, becoming an integrated part of their world.
Her images are very personal because she observes from within that world
rather than from outside it.
A perfect example of this commitment to making photographs from an immersed and involved perspective is Mark's series Ward 81. In 1976 Mark and a colleague spent thirty-six days in the women's maximum security section of an Oregon mental institution, resulting in images such as Laurie, Ward 81 and other similarly haunting photographs. Although the large majority
of Mark's work is social documentary / photojournalism, she has also
photographed celebrities and her fellow photographers. Her photograph
of Andre Kertesz, 1983, (above right) is a telling portrait of
a man whose photographs have made a profound impact on Twentieth Century
photography.
 Lily, 1983, is another
example of Mark's socially provocative style of concerned documentary
work. First
appearing in her photo essay "Streets of the Lost: Runaway Kids Eke Out
a Mean Life in Seattle," (which ran in LIFE in July 1983), the
photograph reveals Mark's ability
to change a "generic" story, such as one on runaways, into a
revealing and very personal perspective on an individual. In most cases
it is obvious that Mark has gotten to know and understand the people she
photographs, but often leaves the viewer to interpret the image as they
will. All images are copyright by the artist or by UC Regents, 1999, all rights reserved. |
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