Photograph by Joshua Kogan
One day when I was in university, I picked up one of the photo magazines, and saw some pictures by a Mary Ellen Mark who had at the time a Ford Foundation grant to do work in Istanbul. The work blew me away. From that day forward, I kept my eye out for anything by Mary Ellen. For the next 5o years MEM continued to simply always be on to something special. Whether it was Street Wise, Falkland Road, Circus, Twins or those 20×24 Polaroids of high school proms, Mary Ellen never let up. Never. She was always working working working. I don’t know anyone who consistently produced amazing work over that time span more than Mary Ellen Mark. Her collaborations as well with Martin Bell both artistic and as life partner inspired us all.
In short, Mary Ellen was a force. Rather IS a force. She inspired so many young photographers as a giving mentor in her workshops. I sat in the back go one of her classes in Oaxaca once in total admiration for the enthusiasm she was able to impart to her students. The last time I saw Mary Ellen she had so graciously come by to present work during one of my workshops. She was consummate inspiration.
At times tough as nails and yet oftentimes sentimental and vulnerable , Mary Ellen suffered no fools.
Great work Mary Ellen. You made it. Past, present, and future all with an MEM stamp.
A one of a kind woman.
Mary Ellen Mark. A deep bow.
-dah-
Mary Ellen Mark obituary, New York Times
Great Royal Circus, Junagadh, India, 1990
A deep bow. Indeed.
I took a workshop with her in 2000 while at ICP and she was terrific. She cut straight to the chase.
She said stuff to me that made sense only some time later. And she knew I wasn’t ready to digest what she had to say. I was still struggling to let go of hardened attitudes I’d gathered after some years as a hardened hack news photographer. She, Charles Harbutt and Joan Lifton were all on the same page as far as I was concerned. They shook me to my core and enabled me to grow enormously as a photographer and person. They each drew to the surface talents and skills I had long since buried deep and locked away. Things I am only now beginning to draw upon.
And I was not alone in my group. She drew us all out of our skins. She had a talent for that – realising potential.
She remains a colossus.
Joshua Kogan’s portrait of her is gorgeous, her elegance beautifully captured.
Thank you, David, for posting this memorial observance for Mary Ellen Mark. She was truly a great lady. Was there anyone who saw her work and was not deeply affected and challenged by it?
An utterly fantastic photographer.
It is hard to put into words how I feel about Mary Ellen Mark. News of her death shocked me greatly even though I knew she had this serious chronic blood disorder. Somehow I never expected it to take her down. MEM was such a force of nature that it was unimaginable to think of her not existing on this plane. But now she is gone and I miss her all the time.
David and those of you who were on Road Trips with us back in 2008 may recall that I took a weekend workshop at The Center for Photography at Wookstock with MEM in August that summer. It was just a week after DAH had stopped by our house in Detroit to do an initial edit of my self portrait project. I took those 10 prints to Mary Ellen’s workshop and was blown away by her positive response. I have just posted a photograph and text from that workshop on Instagram at @patricialaydorsey.
If we are fortunate, each of us has a mentor or two for whom we will be eternally grateful. David Alan Harvey and Mary Ellen Mark are those angels in my life.
Looking at her images is really soul-crushing for me. I am a mere mortal photographer, and will never approach that level of brilliance. It’s the quest that counts, not the destination.
It’s a little hard to contemplate a world in which I have no new Mary Ellen Mark work to look forward to. I look forward to reviewing her past work, and to discovering Mary Ellen Mark work that I did not see the first time around…