RIP Mary Ellen Mark

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

Very sad news. I recently bought Seen Behind the Scene/Forty Years of Photographing on Set, and it's one of my favourite photo books. A big loss to our art and craft.

Yes it's marvellous, isn't it Lynn? What about her shot of Dennis Hopper during the filming of Apocalypse Now? I love the one of Dustin leaning against the Central Park reservoir fence made during filming for Marathon Man, a lot, too. And many, many others.
Regards,
Brett

 

[Leica All Day]

She was/is such a huge inspiration to me and she will be dearly missed

“I saw that my camera gave me a sense of connection with others that I never had before. It allowed me to enter lives, satisfying a curiosity that was always there, but that was never explored before ... I realized all of the possibilities that could exist for me with my camera; all of the images that I could capture, all of the lives I could enter, all of the people I could meet and how much I could learn from them.”

RIP Mary and thanks for everything

 

[__jc]

I will miss her deeply as an artist, a true inspiration, mentor and friend. The world has always needed people like Mary Ellen, not only to stand up for those who wouldn't otherwise be heard, but as an example of kindness and generosity.

 

[leicapixie]

A truly great photographer.
I first encountered her work and methods in a small book, Mary shared with Annie Liebowitz. Both super photographers, doing totally different things.
Mary will be greatly missed.

 

[thompsonks]

I've been sad all day since hearing of her death. She was not only a great photographer but a supportive and inspiring critic, even to those of us who broke her eleventh commandment: "Don't sell your film camera."

Kirk

 

[KM-25]

I've been sad all day since hearing of her death.

Yeah...me too really, a bummer. I have several of her books, a few she signed in 2008 when I last saw her....spent the morning looking through them.

I made a few nice images today in her memory, including some of a whacky lady who drives around in an old Datsun pickup with a big dog house in the bed who does mobile dog grooming...none of the newspaper photogs have bothered to do a story on her so in the spirit of growing a pair & getting to know her like MEM would have....I did.

Gotta get out and make my career, vision and life count....she sure did.

 

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

Some terrific comments, I feel a little better knowing I'm not the only one that this has hit hard. I never got to meet Mary Ellen, but I certainly would have liked to have done so. Appreciate the memories, from those who did.
Cheers
Brett

 

[denpapp]

Some terrific comments, I feel a little better knowing I'm not the only one that this has hit hard. I never got to meet Mary Ellen, but I certainly would have liked to have done so. Appreciate the memories, from those who did.
Cheers
Brett

My feelings as well. She is gone but she will continue to inspire me and I'm sure many others as well.

 

[__jc]

Gotta get out and make my career, vision and life count....she sure did.

This.

The last time I saw her was late 2011 when she was in Sydney to photograph "The Great Gatsby" actors with the big Polaroid camera. My wife and I joined a friend and traveled up from Melbourne to have dinner with her and her assistant Shae. She mentioned more than once how much she loved the dog in the film "Red Dog" which she'd seen on the plane, so my wife and I sent her a toy red dog to greet her when she arrived back in New York. She loved dogs but, with her constant traveling, wasn't able to have a real one.

She was a truly wonderful person.

 

[OurManInTangier]

How lucky for those of you that met or knew her. A true talent and inspiration. It may be one of her best known images but the shot of the Damm family in their car has the same resonance and impact for me as Dorothea Lange's Migrant Mother.

For some reason I have none of her work in book form, this will have to change.

 

[plummerl]

I've had the pleasure of looking at one of her photographs for the last 30 years. A great photographer.

 

[jloden]

I only recently discovered Mary Ellen Mark's work but I feel saddened by her death. When someone whose work has touched you passes, it feels like the world has lost something wonderful.

Spent some time watching a few interviews with Ms. Mark and revisiting her work as a bit of a tribute.

 

[Archiver]

Oh no. My first encounter with her work was when I came across her book of behind the scenes movie photographs. I was instantly captivated by her style, and it is one of my favourite photobooks. Rest in peace.

 

[KM-25]

My first encounter with her work was when I came across her book of behind the scenes movie photographs.

That is a fantastic book, the shot Marlon Brando with the dragonfly....I wish I owned a print of that, fully epic photograph.