Mary Ellen Mark

Birthday: 20 March 1940, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Mary Ellen Mark has achieved worldwide visibility through her numerous books, exhibitions and editorial magazine work. She has published photo-essays and portraits in such publications as the New Yorker, LIFE, and New York Times Magazine. She is recognized as one of our most respected and influential photographers. Mary Ellen has received the Cornell Capa Award, the Infinity Award for Journalism, an Erna & Victor Hasselblad Foundation Grant, and a Walter Annenberg Grant. Among her other awards are the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship and the Dr. Erich Salomon Award. She was also presented with honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of the Arts; three fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts; the World Press Award for Outstanding Body of Work Throughout the Years; the Victor Hasselblad Cover Award, and two Robert F. Kennedy Awards. Mary Ellen has published 19 books and her photographs have been exhibited worldwide. She acted as the associate producer of the major motion picture, American Heart (1992), directed by Martin Bell. Show less «

When you're working on a film, it's almost like photographing paintings at a museum. You're photogra...Show more »

When you're working on a film, it's almost like photographing paintings at a museum. You're photographing somebody else's world. I just try and interpret it and make it real, and make it what the actors are about, what the director is about, and what the film is about. Show less «

Finding the right subject is the hardest part

I think photography is closest to writing, not painting. It's closest to writing because you are usi...Show more »

I think photography is closest to writing, not painting. It's closest to writing because you are using this machine to convey an idea. The image shouldn't need a caption; it should already convey an idea. Show less «

It's not when you press the shutter, but why you press the shutter.

The obsessions we have are pretty much the same our whole lives. Mine are people, the human conditio...Show more »

The obsessions we have are pretty much the same our whole lives. Mine are people, the human condition, life. Show less «

I'm kind of a purist that loves reality - and that's not the trend now. Now they want very commercia...Show more »

I'm kind of a purist that loves reality - and that's not the trend now. Now they want very commercial, very decorated illustrations. (Why she preferred shooting in BxW without digital enhancements.) Show less «

I was thinking about how fleeting and precious life is. Life is also arbitrary. For example, the cho...Show more »

I was thinking about how fleeting and precious life is. Life is also arbitrary. For example, the choices that you make, the luck of being born into the right bed, to parents who support and help you and who love you. That doesn't always happen - and then, what happens when it doesn't? Show less «

I don't relax. I can't take vacations. I'm obsessive-compulsive, and I worry with every project that...Show more »

I don't relax. I can't take vacations. I'm obsessive-compulsive, and I worry with every project that I'm going to fail. When it starts to go well, and I sense that something beautiful and important and meaningful is being created, it's a fantastic feeling, and I find it very hard to stop. Show less «

I'm not much for cats. I'm terrified of mice. I've worked a lot with elephants, and they are extreme...Show more »

I'm not much for cats. I'm terrified of mice. I've worked a lot with elephants, and they are extremely intelligent and sensitive, and thankfully, they seem to like me. You never want to get on the bad side of an elephant. And never trust a chimp. Show less «

I realized all of the possibilities that could exist for me with my camera: all of the images that I...Show more »

I realized all of the possibilities that could exist for me with my camera: all of the images that I could capture, all of the lives I could enter, all of the people I could meet and how much I could learn from them. Show less «

Reality is always extraordinary.

You have to be a fast runner, and that's not part of my nature. (Why she never became a war photogra...Show more »

You have to be a fast runner, and that's not part of my nature. (Why she never became a war photographer.) Show less «

I always think, 'What does this picture mean? What's the best place to put my camera? Do I have anyt...Show more »

I always think, 'What does this picture mean? What's the best place to put my camera? Do I have anything extra in the picture, things in the background that will distract? Am I in the basic position that will give the essential things for this picture but not too much?' Show less «

Mary Ellen Mark

Mary Ellen Mark's FILMOGRAPHY

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