Quotes by
Mary Ellen Mark

Mary Ellen Mark

Mary Ellen Mark : 25 Years by Marianne Fulton

ISBN: 0821218387 Page: 11 This book is available from Amazon

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Mary Ellen Mark : 25 Years by Marianne Fulton

ISBN: 0821218387 Page: 27 This book is available from Amazon

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Mary Ellen Mark : 25 Years by Marianne Fulton

ISBN: 0821218387 Page: 27 This book is available from Amazon

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"American Photo", September/October 1998

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I consider myself both a journalist and an artist. Journalistic photography is based on "reality" in the same manner as a documentary film. You are saying this is an unbiased observation rather than being something made up or composed. This goal of objectivity pulls one way, but for me, reality is also an individual's psychological perspective and dreams. The unconscious mind contains as much reality as the "facts" of the conscious world. And, in fact, our unconscious desires influence public events. So this is relevant to journalism, although it is discouraged by our traditional, two-dimensional, "just-the-facts" approach.
When I take a photograph for a story, I try to go for both realities (inner and outer). My feelings go into my pictures. Reality is what we feel about it, not just what we see on the surface.
I like pictures that have emotion to them, rather than a two dimensional news photo. That is why I do stories rather than news pictures. The flow of the photographs gives more opportunity for depth and emotion. I want to evoke deep emotions in the viewer to reach his or her unconscious mind. Good photographs get beyond rationality to that visual, dream-like state that is the core of our emotions. [...]
I plan my photographs carefully, but the planning takes place before I ever take out the camera. I consciously put myself in places where particular situations exist and might happen in front of my camera. However, when I get there, it is no longer on such a rational level. I like to be very loose. I don't plan my pictures. I let myself go. I use the real world as my text but my unconscious as my guide.

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