Mary Ellen Mark

A photographer who I adore is Mary Ellen Mark. Born on March 20^th, 1940, she was a U.S. photographer who focused on photojournalism and documentary photography. She often captured people who were marginalised society, often forgotten. She was born and raised in Pennsylvania where she first found her love for photography, starting at the age of nine when given a Box Brownie camera. She refined her skills by completing a master's degree at the University of Pennsylvania on photojournalism. Soon after this, she went to Turkey for a year where she produced her first book, Passport (1974). Within this book she found her style of capturing people within their community, creating stunning images that reveal the underbelly of the countries that she visited.

Continuing with her newly found style, she created arguably one of her most famous pieces was in 1981, titled Ward 81. During this shoot, she spent six weeks living with the patients of Oregon State Hospital, capturing their lives. This is the reason why I adore her photography so much. She does not just ‘take pictures,’ she does so much more. She immerses herself with her subjects, befriends them, studies them. This is emulated so vividly in her photos, as without taking that time to befriend her subjects she would be unable to create such intimate and personal photographs.

The reason she inspires me so much is how her photos appear so real. There is no façade layered on top of her photos. They all depict the reality of life, both the good and the bad. The pregnant teen, the homeless family, the shouting director, the old kissing couple. These photos show what life is really is like. She gives light to the people that are otherwise not given a voice, displaying their environment and their joys and struggles. This is what I hope to draw from in my photos. When I travel, I want to convey the reality of a country both its positives and negatives, present the emotions of the subject on paper, clear for the viewer to see.

                A photo that truly resonates with me is the portrait of the Damm family in their car. The Damm family had been kicked out of a shelter and were forced to live in their car.  Even without the context of the situation the image hits home. The eyes all display a sense of melancholy and despair, even within the little ones which emphasises to the viewer that the situation they are in is truly heart-throbbing. The hand placement also makes the photograph even more depressing, with the hands wrapped around the wife and the sisters hand holding her brothers face. This portrays that they are desperately clinging to each other in an attempt not to be separated, as if worried about losing the family. Mark also is a master of light control in this photo, crunching the blacks in the photo to make the shadows under their eyes more apparent, emphasising the family's weariness. Overall, this photo is a perfect example of her ability to portray people's situations with just an image, perfectly conveying their emotions and surroundings.

                Another photo that I find encapsulates my theme is a photograph from her ‘Ward 81 photoshoot’. This image encapsulates the photoshoot which is trying to capture the humanity of marginalised groups in society within challenging environments. This is conveyed using negative space, emphasising the subject's sense of entrapment and isolation. This is further conveyed using light using vignetting. This draws the viewers eye to the subject, however showing them the barrier between the subject and the viewer. The use of repeating shapes, such as the rectangles emphasises her confinement, while at the same time conveys the institutional setting. Finally, the despair shown by the subject, even though it is just seen in the eyes creates the despair shown in the images, making the viewer sympathise with the subject. Overall, this photograph conveys a hidden side of society, the marginalised and isolated, bringing light to their issues.

                Finally, one of my favourite photographs by Mary Ellen Mark, is from her streetwise series. The image depicts two children looking after babies in the streets. The foreground dominates this photograph, overwhelming the viewer. This is used to draw the viewer to the children caring for the babies. The closest one looks melancholic and disinterested in the baby, while the baby looks asleep. The other child is standing, holding two babies, leaning on a lamp post, bare footed. Her poster is slumped over, as if she is disorientated or high on drugs, while the babies gaze off, upset. These powerful images show the poverty that strikes America were the line between adult and child becomes blurred, as the children become care givers. This distorted way of life is emphasised by the Dutch angle, rotating the world, visualising the confusing world that the subjects live in. This photograph conveys the underbelly of the so called ‘great America’ who is often perceived as perfect, however has many imperfections.

Mary Ellen Mark has shown me the importance of conveying stories, not just creating a ‘pleasing image’. I want to be able to understand who I am taking a photograph of and about the place where I am taking my photo. This in turn will make me stop and think more carefully what I want to take an image of, instead of taking as many as I can, as a result greatly improving my image quality. Overall, Mary Ellen Mark has become one of my favourite photographers, and I will always turn to her if ever I am in need of inspiration.