PORTRAITS

by MARK MARY ELLEN, Mary E. Mark (Photographer), Mary Panzer (Foreword by)

Mary Ellen Mark here pairs images of the world's homeless and alienated with portraits of world-famous actors, musicians, writers, and other celebrities. The differences are palpable. Studiously posed yet comfortable with the camera, icons such as Jodie Foster, John Irving, Lillian Gish, Johnny Depp, and Francois Truffaut fill each frame with an invulnerable gaze. In contrast, impoverished children in Ireland, Texas, or James Bay, Canada, seem unreachable both in their social and geographic removal and in their alarming calm.
Despite vastly different lives, subtle correspondences of mood and theme emerge in the paired Boy George self-consciously folds his hands in prayer, a gesture echoed on the previous page by a sincerely reverent Indian girl standing in the Ganges. A homeless Irish boy seems as proud in his solitude as Kevin Costner in the persona of Wyatt Earp. Whether of stars posing as outcasts or a Vietnamese circus performer assuming the imperious posture of a star, the photographs of Mary Ellen Mark resonate singly, in pairs, and as a sequence, haunting viewers with their depictions of lives far removed from everyday existence.

Genres: Photography

47 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Di · Rating 5 out of 5]

The layout of the photographs was strikingly well thought out and provided a secondary impact. For example, the photograph of Margaret Joyce on the opposite page of the portrait of Johnny Depp. It's an interpretation one must make for one's self.
Personal favourite photograph was the portrait taken of Diane Arbus.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary Ellen Mark is such a talent. After a brief introduction, the book features well-known people contrasted against regular people in a two-page spread. Beautiful work.

[June Chan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Akin to the work and subject matter of Diane Arbus. Love it!

[ECH]

There's something really otherworldly about a well done portrait.