Mary Ellen Mark

Mary Ellen Mark (born the March 20th 1940 in Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, the United States) is a known Photographe American especially for its reports through the United States, in which the portraits occupy a dominating place.

A social approach

Working mainly in black and white, Mr. E. Mark has as subjects of predilection them excluded from the company: the poor, absconders, prostitutes, doped, captive; often in the United States, it was also interested in India on several occasions (in particular near Mère Teresa). In 1984 Sunday Times Magazine published its images color on the white population of the Zimbabwe.

She thus builds her reports on the long run while following certain families during years (one could follow " Tiny" child, teenager, then mother). This method the class among the documentarists, rather than the journalists: it has some dependant times of the strong bonds with its subjects (this affections is visible in these photographs), but also followed members of KKK or " nations aryennes" , in their daily life, on their premises or in family.

She however defends herself to tell stories: " I do not want to be that an photo-essay writer, I am interested by images isolated… one than I judge sufficiently good to be presented only ". It always photographs with humanism, sometimes so much so that one classifies it among the portraitists. Seldom posed these portraits are often made with the wide-angle lens to place the subject in its context. Mark is also very attentive with the technical quality of its images: " A good print is really essential. I want to take strong documentary photographs that are ace good technically ace any off the best technical photographs, and ace creative ace any off the best fine-art photographs ".

One can earlier bring closer his work on his own country to that to Dorothea Lange 30 years.

Biography

It begins photography at 9 years, then is interested in the drawing and painting at the time of its passage to the college, then at the university of Pennsylvania. She works then as a Freelance in the years 1960 ' S. Her diploma out of pocket she obtains a purse to leave to photograph in Turkey then in Europe during one year.

She was published in the American magazines most famous: LIFE magazine, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair…

She belonged to the agency Magnum between 1977 and 1982 before working again like independent.

She is married with deferring.

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