Mary Ellen Mark facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mary Ellen Mark
Mark in 2010
Born	(1940-03-20)March 20, 1940 Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, US
Died	May 25, 2015(2015-05-25) (aged 75) Manhattan, New York City, US
Known for	Photography
Spouse(s)	Martin Bell

Mary Ellen Mark (born March 20, 1940 – died May 25, 2015) was a famous American photographer. She was known for her amazing photojournalism, which means taking pictures for news stories. She also did documentary photography, portraits, and even advertising photos.

Mary Ellen Mark loved to photograph people who lived outside of everyday society. She found their lives interesting and often challenging. She published 18 books of her photos, with Streetwise and Ward 81 being some of her most well-known. Her pictures were shown in art galleries and museums all over the world. They also appeared in popular magazines like Life, Rolling Stone, and The New Yorker.

She won many important awards for her photography. These included three Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards and a Lifetime Achievement in Photography Award in 2014.

Life and Work

Mary Ellen Mark grew up in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. She started taking pictures when she was only nine years old, using a simple Box Brownie camera.

She went to the University of Pennsylvania and studied painting and art history. Later, she earned a master's degree in photojournalism in 1964. The next year, she received a special scholarship called a Fulbright Scholarship. This allowed her to travel and take photos in Turkey for a year. Her first book, Passport (1974), came from this trip. She also visited England, Germany, Greece, Italy, and Spain during this time.

In 1966 or 1967, Mary Ellen Mark moved to New York City. There, she photographed many important events. She took pictures of protests against the Vietnam War and the women's rights movement. She also photographed Times Square. She became known for capturing the lives of people who were different or lived in unusual situations.

Children were a very important subject in her work. She once said that she saw children and teenagers as "small people." She treated them with respect, just like adults. She also had a strong interest in people who lived on the edges of society.

One of her most famous projects was "Streets of the Lost" for Life magazine. This led to her book Streetwise (1988). It also became a documentary film called Streetwise, directed by her husband, Martin Bell.

Mary Ellen Mark also worked as a photographer on movie sets. She took pictures behind the scenes for over 100 films. Some of these movies include Apocalypse Now (1979) and Australia (2008). She even photographed famous director Federico Fellini while he was making his movie Satyricon.

She used different types of cameras and film, often preferring black and white photos. She was always open and honest with the people she photographed. She believed it was important to tell them why she was taking their picture. She felt she was capturing a part of their "soul."

From 1977 to 1981, Mary Ellen Mark was a member of Magnum Photos, a famous group of photographers. Later, she started her own photography agency. She also taught photography workshops to help other photographers learn.

She helped create the movie American Heart (1992) as a co-writer and associate producer. Her husband, Martin Bell, directed this film. It tells the story of a former prisoner trying to restart his life.

Mark signing a monograph in 2011

Mary Ellen Mark passed away on May 25, 2015, in New York City. She was 75 years old and died from a blood illness.

Exhibitions

Mary Ellen Mark's photographs were shown in many exhibitions around the world. Here are a few examples:

• 2003 – Twins, Marianne Boesky Gallery – New York, New York
• 2004 – Mary Ellen Mark: Twins and Falkland Road, Museum of Contemporary Photography – Chicago, Illinois
• 2012 – Prom: Photographs, Philadelphia Museum of Art – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• 2016 – Attitude: Portraits by Mary Ellen Mark, 1964–2015, Howard Greenberg Gallery – New York, New York
• 2021 – Mary Ellen Mark: Girlhood, National Museum of Women In The Arts – Washington, DC

Awards and Recognition

Mary Ellen Mark received many awards and honors for her photography throughout her career. Some of these include:

Grants and Fellowships

Mary Ellen Mark also received grants and fellowships to support her photography projects:

• 1965–66: Fulbright Scholarship
• 1977: National Endowment for the Arts
• 1979–1980: National Endowment for the Arts
• 1990: National Endowment for the Arts
• 1994: John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship

See also

In Spanish: Mary Ellen Mark para niños