Mary Ellen Mark's 'Encounters' at C/O Berlin
By Anna Marweld
“I’m just interested in people on the edges. I feel an affinity for people who haven’t had the best breaks in society. I’m always on their side. I find them more human, maybe. What I want to do more than anything is acknowledge their existence.”
The documentarian and portraitist Mary Ellen Mark has distinctive voice in the world of photography. Regarded as the successor to socio-critical photographers such as Dorothea Lange, Mark has the uncanny ability to tear down the veil of difference that separates groups of people. Her work is an exploration of social belonging, or rather, the lack of it. Through her lens, she captures the essence of otherness, the essence of those on the “fringes of society”. She does this, however, in a way that dissolves the borders between ‘us’ and ‘them’. Mark’s work feels current and timeless, and, most importantly, it is humanistic. It feels intimate, like a story being told through adoring, sensitive eyes.
Having studied painting and art history at the University of Pennsylvania before completing her Masters in photojournalism, Mark embarked on a journey that would take her around the world in a series of independent socio-critical narratives. Living alongside her subjects for weeks, she often remained in contact with the people whom she photographed. The connection between artist and subject, here, was personal and dignified. Encounters at the C/O in Berlin is the first retrospective of her work, held in cooperation with the The Mary Ellen Mark Foundation.
Figure 1: Mary Ellen Mark, Kissing in a bar, New York, 1977, Howard Greenberg Gallery
Perhaps the photograph that most successfully catches the viewer’s eye in the exhibition is Mark’s capture of a deep and joyful kiss between a perceivably older woman and her companion [Fig. 1]. She wears clothing that suggests she has a strong sense of youthful personal style – her dangling necklace and chain, the great, glittering rings and shining earpiece. Her glasses are modern, kooky, and her hair is curled to perfection. Her nails are bold and well-manicured. She kisses her lover with such appetite and vigour that it becomes impossible to look away – clearly enjoying herself, the viewer is drawn into the image, marvelling at this elderly woman’s gusto. Her hearty joie de vivre juxtaposes her visible age, allowing for a humorous and encouraging commentary that age does not determine the end of pleasure. The title of the exhibition, here, is perfectly encapsulated – this encounter is not just between a woman and her apparently younger paramour, but also an encounter, a clash, between the stigmas of old age and the joyful possibilities that lie beyond such stigmas. Mark seems to suggest that the pleasures of life are far from over when we are old and find ourselves greying. Our perception of ourselves is inherently limited, and the subject of Mark’s photographs reminds us that life is what we make of it.
Figure 2: Mary Ellen Mark, Tiny, Halloween, Seattle, Washington, 1983, Howard Greenberg Gallery
Here, the viewer is confronted with one of Mark’s most favorite subjects. Having first met Erin Blackwell, also known as “Tiny” [Fig. 2], outside of a club in Seattle, Mark was fascinated with her. She recalls seeing her and her friends dressed “like seductive prostitutes” in makeup and short skirts at the tender age of 13. Having found her the next day, their relationship would continue over many years. Mark says Tiny was “impossible to forget”, and through Mark’s documentation of Tiny’s development, viewers were able to follow her life. Tiny herself recalls how Mark spoiled her and treated her like her own – she notes how much of a parental figure Mark became over the years, replacing her absent biological mother. She is only one of Mark’s subjects that felt an intimate connection the New York photographer. Intertwined with her subjects, Mark had access to a lens of pathos and understanding that others would not be able to unearth. Here, the encounter is between subject and photographer, a relationship that would blossom into one of care and tenderness.
“Much of life is luck. No one can choose whether he’s born into a wealthy, privileged home or born into extreme poverty. I guess I’m interested in people who haven’t had as much of a chance because they reach out more, they need more. They touch me. I do a lot of other work to support myself, but those kinds of projects are the reasons I became a photographer.”
Figure 3: Mary Ellen Mark, Girl Jumping over a Wall, Central Park, New York City, 1967, Gelatin silver print, 16 x 20 in., National Museum of Women in the Arts
Mary Ellen Mark’s exhibition Encounters is wonderfully empathetic, humorous and filled with glimmering candour. Through her photography, Mark was able to dissect social barriers and create insights into the lives of the disadvantaged. Her visions materialize themes that speak to the tenderness of girlhood and the desire to be known and loved. The wondrous ability of Mark’s to foster close and personal relationships with her subjects allowed her photographs sincerity and a delicate familiarity. Her incisive depictions of the human condition feel private – through the eyes of Mark, we become a confidante. What is perhaps most remarkable about Mary Ellen Mark is her capacity to see beauty everywhere. She shows us that those we assume to be different to ourselves are not so different after all. Through the lens of Mark’s camera, the webs of amity and similarity woven between individuals are reinforced.
References
“Mary Ellen Mark.” Mary Ellen Mark | C/O Berlin. Accessed January 3, 2024. https://co-berlin.org/en/program/exhibitions/mary-ellen-mark.
Kirkpatrick, N. ‘Beautiful, engaging and impossible to forget’: Mary Ellen Mark and her most intimate subject’, The Washington Post. Accessed January 2, 2024. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/05/27/beautiful-engaging-and-impossible-to-forget-mary-ellen-mark-and-tiny-her-most-intimate-subject/.