Mary Ellen Mark Biography

Fast Facts

• Earned a lifetime achievement award from the George Eastman House in 2014
• Was honored with an Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award from the World Photography Organization in 2014
• Graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in painting and art history in 1962 and earned her master's in photojournalism in 1964
• Was married to filmmaker Martin Bell, who produced the documentary "Streetwise" based on her encounters with homeless teenagers in Seattle
• Traveled to Turkey on a Fulbright scholarship after college, where she got much of the material for her first book, 1974's "Passport․"
• Began her career as a photographer for magazines like Look and Life, often working in black and white
• Quote: "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․"
• Quote: "I remember the first time I went out to shoot pictures ․․․ 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․"
• Award-winning photojournalist who was known for her compassionate depictions of tough subjects, including her "Streetwise" project, which followed the lives of several homeless teenagers in Seattle in the early 1980s
• Began working as a fashion photographer in the 1990s, completing ad campaigns for companies like Coach and Heineken