1967, Manhattan, Girl jumping over a wall
News of documentary photographer Mary Ellen Mark’s passing on Monday, May 26th struck a chord not only in the art and photography worlds (especially to women photographers around the world), or in her native Philadelphia and later home of New York City, but also with anyone who had the honor of experiencing her extensive work, a four-decades–spanning catalogue full of enthusiasm, compassion and sheer will that continued right up until the end (Mark had just completed her 19th book before her death). I had the honor of being photographed by Mark as a trembling high-school senior for her 2012 tome Prom, and I remember being in complete awe of her—her careful hands, those distinctive pigtail braids, her astonishing ability to give as much as her camera took. Look at the street photography she captured during her time in New York—you’ll feel that awe, too.
