Legendary Photographer Mary Ellen Mark Dies at 75
There’s some very sad news in the world of photography today: renowned American photographer Mary Ellen Mark passed away yesterday in New York City at the age of 75.
Mark received a master’s degree in photojournalism from the University of Pennsylvania in 1964. Through the course of her photography career over the next half century, Mark published 17 photography books, held exhibitions of her work around the world, and had her photos regularly published by some of the world’s top publications, including Life, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, and The New Yorker.
In 2014, Mark received the Lifetime Achievement in Photography Award from George Eastman House.
Profoto shared this short interview with Mark back in 2013:
Here’s an hour-long lecture Mark gave a couple of years ago at the University of Michigan:
The lecture’s description captures her reputation well. “Photographer Mary Ellen Mark is one of the most respected and influential image makers of our time,” it says. “Her work photographing diverse cultures across the globe has become iconic in the field of documentary photography and portraiture.”
Needless to say, the world of photography has just lost one of its biggest stars.
Image credits: Header graphic based on still frame by Profoto
