Mary Ellen Mark Quotes

Powerful Mary Ellen Mark for Daily Growth

About Mary Ellen Mark

Mary Ellen Mark (November 25, 1940 – May 25, 2015) was an influential American photographer and documentary filmmaker, known for her poignant and intimate portrayals of society's marginalized and overlooked individuals. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mark showed an early interest in photography and art. After attending Indiana University Bloomington and the University of Missouri, she moved to New York City where she began her career as a freelance photographer. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, she worked for Life magazine and Rolling Stone, capturing iconic images of artists, musicians, and cultural figures such as Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and Leonard Cohen. Mark's career took a more documentary turn in the 1970s when she began photographing subjects like prostitutes in Portland, Oregon (Streetwise, 1983), circus performers, and psychiatric patients at Seattle's Central State Hospital. Her work during this period was marked by her ability to gain the trust of her subjects and create profoundly moving images that revealed their humanity. In the 1980s, Mark began making documentary films, including the Academy Award-nominated Ward Number 6 (1990) and Tiny: The Life of Erin Blackwell (1995). Her films continued her exploration of marginalized communities, focusing on themes such as mental illness, poverty, and social isolation. Mark's work was recognized with numerous awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Center of Photography. She was also a member of Magnum Photos since 1976, one of only a few women to achieve this distinction. Mark's legacy lies in her ability to expose the truth about human existence, often focusing on the underbelly of society and revealing the resilience and humanity within those individuals. Her work continues to inspire photographers and filmmakers today.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Photography is really about who you are, and what you care about."

This quote by Mary Ellen Mark emphasizes that photography is not just a mechanical process or technical skill, but a deeply personal and emotional expression of the photographer's identity and values. It suggests that the images captured reveal not only the subject matter, but also the photographer's perspective, passion, and empathy towards their chosen themes. In essence, the photographic work serves as a reflection of who the photographer is at their core.

"Portraits are a form of memory keeping, a way to hold on to a moment in time."

This quote suggests that portraiture is not just about capturing an individual's likeness, but also preserving a fleeting moment in time. It implies that through portraits, we can freeze specific memories or feelings associated with a particular moment, allowing us to remember and revisit those experiences long after they have passed. Essentially, it is a way of keeping the essence of a moment alive, giving it permanence and allowing it to be shared across generations.

"I think that when I photograph, I'm trying to reach a certain universal truth about the human condition."

This quote by Mary Ellen Mark suggests that her photography is a means to discover and express deep, universal aspects of the human experience. Through her lens, she aims to reveal fundamental truths about what it means to be human – emotions, interactions, struggles, and triumphs that transcend cultural, geographical, or personal differences. This pursuit of universal truth is not just an act of documenting reality, but a way to connect with people and the world at large, fostering empathy and understanding.

"As a photographer, you have to be open to what life offers, and not always try to control things."

This quote suggests that as a photographer, one should embrace the spontaneity and unpredictability of life, rather than striving to rigidly control every aspect of a scene or moment. Instead, it encourages photographers to be receptive, adaptable, and flexible in their approach, allowing life to offer unexpected and genuine moments that often lead to compelling images. This perspective fosters a deep appreciation for the authenticity of life and can result in more impactful and truthful photography.

"I believe there is something inherently vulnerable about the act of being photographed."

Mary Ellen Mark's quote emphasizes the inherent vulnerability experienced when someone is photographed. This vulnerability arises from the exposure, both literal and metaphorical, that happens during a photographic session. The subject, in allowing themselves to be captured on film, reveals aspects of their identity, emotions, or personal life, which can feel exposed and vulnerable. The quote underscores the intimate bond formed between photographer and subject during the act of photography, as well as the power dynamics involved in capturing someone's likeness.

Looking at my own prom photograph reminds me of how significant that moment was - and how fleeting life is.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Own, Fleeting, Significant, My Own

I was fascinated by my own prom pictures.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Own, My Own, Fascinated, Prom

I've always been interested in photographing traditions and customs - especially in America. The prom is an American tradition, a rite of passage that has always been one of the most important rituals of American youth. It is a day in our lives that we never forget - a day full of hopes and dreams for our future.

- Mary Ellen Mark

American, Been, Passage, Prom

I think the prom is very serious also. It's an American ritual, it's a rite of passage, and it's very much a part of this country.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Think, Country, Very, Prom

I wanted to travel from the beginning. As a kid, I used to dream about airplanes, before I ever flew in one.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Beginning, Kid, Before, Airplane

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.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Trust, Bad, Mice, Elephants

In every successful still photographic project that I have completed, there has always been a turning point in the story where I felt that perhaps I was working on something that could be very special.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Always, Very, Still, Photographic

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?'

- Mary Ellen Mark

Best, Anything, Put, Essential

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.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Possibilities, Images, Lives, Camera

One of my all-time favorite photographers is Irving Penn. I wish I could have watched him work.

- Mary Ellen Mark

I Wish, Could, Penn, All-Time

I'm staying with film, and with silver prints, and no Photoshop. That's the way I learned photography: You make your picture in the camera. Now, so much is made in the computer... I'm not anti-digital; I just think, for me, film works better.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Your, Works, Staying, Photoshop

I'm not against digital photography. It's great for newspapers. And there are photographers doing great work digitally. When they use Photoshop as a darkroom tool, that's fine, too. But at this point of my life, after so many years, I don't really want to change, and I still love film.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Love, My Life, Doing, Photoshop

I could spend my whole life photographing circuses. They combine everything I'm interested in - they're ironic, poetic, and corny at the same time. There's also something about a circus that's magical, sentimental, and almost tragic, like a Fellini film.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Ironic, About, Almost, Sentimental

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?

- Mary Ellen Mark

Love, Luck, Bed, Precious Life

I saw that my camera gave me a sense of connection with others that I never had before. It allowed me to enter lives, satisfying a curiosity that was always there but that was never explored before.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Curiosity, Always, Lives, Satisfying

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.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Think, Image, Using, Closest

I love dogs. I absolutely adore them. When I'm teaching in Mexico, I rescue dogs from the streets and make my students adopt them.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Love, Students, Streets, Rescue

During prom season, I travel around the country with a 20-by-24 camera - which is logistically complicated - and photograph proms. My husband made a film of it.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Country, Made, Which, Season

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.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Director, Like, Almost, Interpret

Sometimes I work on film sets. I've done this for 40 years. I always wanted to photograph on the set of an Ingmar Bergman film. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Always, Set, Sets, Bergman

If I'm in an unusual or extreme social environment, I always want to know what it's like to grow up there and experience it as normal, everyday life. And I want to know what sort of adults these children are going to turn into.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Life, Experience, Turn, Everyday Life

What I'm trying to do is make photographs that are universally understood... that cross cultural lines. I want my photographs to be about the basic emotions and feelings that we all experience.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Emotions, Want, Universally, Understood

A lot of people who don't have anything collect dogs; it's kind of a symbol of having something.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Lot, Symbol, Having, Collect

I really knew when I started photographing I wanted it to be a way of knowing different cultures, not just in other countries but in this country, too, and I knew I wanted to be a voyeur.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Country, Other, Knew, Different Cultures

As a kid, I used to dream about airplanes before I ever flew in one. I really knew, when I started photographing, I wanted it to be a way of knowing different cultures, not just in other countries but in this country, too, and I knew I wanted to enter other lives. I knew I wanted to be a voyeur.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Country, Other, Before, Different Cultures

In 1965, I was in Trabzon in eastern Turkey on a Fulbright scholarship. I would get up every morning and walk around the streets and look for photographs.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Streets, Around, Eastern, Scholarship

I'm most interested in finding the strangeness and irony in reality. That's my forte.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Reality, Most, Interested, Strangeness

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

- Mary Ellen Mark

Human Condition, Mine, Lives, Obsessions

I knew from the first moment I picked up a camera, on my first school assignment, what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I was going to find a way to travel the world and tell the stories of the people I met through photographs.

- Mary Ellen Mark

My Life, Through, Tell, Camera

I'm a documentary photographer. That's what I've always wanted to be; that's where my heart and soul is.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Soul, Always, Wanted, Heart And Soul

I love to photograph people in their own environment. It offers clues to what's important in their lives.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Love, Offers, Lives, Clues

Every photograph is the photographer's opinion about something. It's how they feel about something: what they think is horrible, tragic, funny.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Think, Feel, About, Tragic

Nowadays shots are created in post-production, on computers. It's not really photography.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Shots, Nowadays, Created, Post-Production

I would die if I had to be confined. I don't want to feel that I'm missing out on experiencing as much as I can. For me, experiencing is knowing people all over the world and being able to photograph.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Die, Over, Confined, Experiencing

I'm just interested in people on the edges. I feel an affinity for people who haven't had the best breaks in society. I'm always on their side. I find them more human, maybe. What I want to do more than anything is acknowledge their existence.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Existence, Feel, Maybe, Affinity

I remember the first time I went out on the street to shoot pictures. I was in downtown Philadelphia, and I just took a walk and started making contact with people and photographing them, and I thought, 'I love this. This is what I want to do forever.' There was never another question.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Love, Thought, I Remember, Shoot

It's good that everyone has an opportunity to take pictures, the chance to be a photographer. Some are good, too. But the bad thing is that it's very, very difficult to take a great picture. Everyone can take a good picture - even a child - but it's hard to make a great one.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Bad, Some, Very, Good Picture

I don't see how a woman in documentary photography could have children. I think it's a very difficult thing to do to raise a family, and I have enormous respect for people who do it. I'd hate to do something like that and not be good at it.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Woman, I Think, Very, Documentary

Usually my ideas for work have revolved around my interest in people, especially people that live on the edges of society.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Work, Society, Interest, Edges

I don't like gimmicky pictures; I've always hated them. I like pictures that are very clear and clean, whether you're a great street photographer - somebody like Friedlander or Winogrand or Cartier-Bresson - or whether you're a portraitist, like Irving Penn.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Pictures, Very, Penn, Hated

I work in colour sometimes, but I guess the images I most connect to, historically speaking, are in black and white. I see more in black and white - I like the abstraction of it.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Work, Like, Images, Historically

I respect newspapers, but the reality is that magazine 'photojournalism' is finished. They want illustrations, Photoshopped pictures of movie stars.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Want, Movie, Illustrations, Magazine

I've always been fascinated by twins. In my forty years of photographing, whenever there was an opportunity, I would take a picture of twins. I found the notion that two people could appear to look exactly alike very compelling.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Been, Very, Compelling, Appear

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.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Project, Meaningful, Very, Fantastic

If I hadn't become a photographer, I would have loved to become a doctor. I would have loved to have done something that actually helped people and changed their lives.

- Mary Ellen Mark

People, Done, Lives, Helped

I was something of a problem kid. I was emotional, wild, rebellious at school. I'm very touched by kids who don't have advantages; they are much more interesting than kids who have everything. They have a lot of passion and emotion, such a strong will.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Strong, Touched, Very, Wild

I just think it's important to be direct and honest with people about why you're photographing them and what you're doing. After all, you are taking some of their soul.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Doing, Think, Some, Photographing

I don't like to photograph children as children. I like to see them as adults, as who they really are. I'm always looking for the side of who they might become.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Always, Like, Side, Adult

When I started out, it was considered very wrong to change an image. There were scandals if someone inserted a sky into a war picture or something. Now it's all about that.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Sky, Image, Very, Picture

I'm just interested in what makes a photograph.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Just, Makes, Interested, Photograph

Photograph the world as it is. Nothing's more interesting than reality.

- Mary Ellen Mark

World, Nothing, More, Photograph

There are some people who become best friends with everyone they photograph. There are people that I really like and admire and respect, but in a way I think it's better to keep a distance. I think you get better pictures of people that you don't know very well.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Some, I Think, Very, Photograph

I'm a street photographer, but I'm interested in any ironic, whimsical images, and there's something very romantic about a circus.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Ironic, Very, Images, Circus

I have an incredible relationship with dogs. I'm kind of a dog-whisperer.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Kind, Incredible, Dogs

Reality is always extraordinary.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Extraordinary, Always, Reality

What you look for in a picture is a metaphor, something that means something more, that makes you think about things you've seen or thought about.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Thought, Think, Means, Metaphor

If you're searching for quotes on a different topic, feel free to browse our Topics page or explore a diverse collection of quotes from various Authors to find inspiration.