Discuss a Mary Ellen Mark photograph

[noblebeast]

...
I still maintain, however, that this particular image is not complete within itself unless the viewer has additional information, or is already familiar with the situation. Taken out of context we don't really know what it represents, although so far the consensus of the responders on this forum is that it somehow represents children who are old before their time, and have lost the optimism of youth. That's an awful lot to read into a single picture with no real information on the underlying background.
I'm reminded of the quotation by Walker Evans when asked if a photograph could ever lie, his answer was, "they always do."

Or as Avedon was oft quoted, "All photographs are accurate. None is the truth."

But I can't help think you are limiting yourself by not responding to the photo without understanding its original context. Does it really matter? Does the photo make you feel anything, on its own, without the full essay or the context of the original assignment to tell you what to think/feel, how to respond? Aren't your questions about context/circumstances part of the wonderful journey a picture like this can take you on? One of the great surprising joys I get from my own pictures is when people - preferably people without any photography background (who tend to worry first and foremost about the technical aspects of the photo) - see things/symbols/meanings in the picture I had no idea were there. I used to think that just because they didn't see the print that I thought I was making, the print must be a failure. Now I know better.

Joe

 

[Bill Mitchell]

I don't like my emotions being jerked around, such as intended by those sappy (video) adds for some children's charity, showing snot-nosed, unkempt and unclean, pot-bellied urchins with tears running down their cheeks ("for only a dollar-a-day you can feed this child and send her to Harvard!" Or better yet, to Congress?).
I do believe this image because I happen to know about Mary Ellen Mark. Otherwise, it could just be another shill.

 

[ChuckP]

I find the mask to be both a blessing and a curse. The photo needs it for the surreal effect but weighs it down as a prop.

 

[bjorke]

I find the mask to be both a blessing and a curse. The photo needs it for the surreal effect but weighs it down as a prop.

Interesting notion -- but if these kids are indeed travellers/Romani/Gypsies then the mask is probably a part of their lifestyle, a crucial story element and a key irony in their lives of projecting entertainment and happiness towards others from within their own questionable circumstance.

 

[Bill Mitchell]

I was at Barnes & Noble yesterday, looking through her new book "Exposure," and ran across this image. It was identified as Spanish Gypsies, but unfortunately no additional information was given.
This is an incredibly intense book, and there is an appendix where she discusses many of the individual photographs, in particular Tiny and Mike, two of the children from her beautiful but gritty photoessay on street kids in Seattle.
Her work certainly reinforces what they say on Malcolm in the Middle, "Life is Unfair."

 

[jp80874]

"I'm not going to post the backround information on this, as I would be interested in everyone's personal interpretation of the scene. More of her work can be found at www.maryellenmark.com or www.art-dept.com/artists/mark.

Thanks again to Jim for starting this idea!
__________________
-Chris"

Chis,

Being one of those landscape and urban waste photo types I find the emotions relatively new and very interesting. Now that many have expressed their views and I have looked at your links, would you be so kind as to add the backround information on this specific photo?

Thanks,

John Powers

 

[catem]

I do think this photograph can stand on its own, without necessarily knowing the context and background (though this can probably enrich it). The expression in the childrens' faces and body postures, and their relationship to one another, seem timeless to me, and could be expressed by children in many different circumstances, countries, times; certainly a sense of innocence lost, of some kind of hurt endured. The mask adds another dimension, a potent symbol, but you don't need to know about or think about how masks have been used by photographers/artists, there is the theme of comedy/tragedy, the depiction of their enforced public role, the hidden reality beneath the surface - all that comes across. I think it's very powerful.
Cate

 

[catem]

p.s. the photo for discussion (which I saw yesterday) seems to have disappeared from the inital post - or is it me ??

 

[lee]

HI star it is still here for me so it must be you.



lee\c

ps: very good comments

l\c

 

[catem]

HI star it is still here for me so it must be you.



lee\c

ps: very good comments

l\c

Thanks Lee - for both comments. It's back for me too, so it must have been a problem with my server...
Cate

 

[Alex Hawley]

You should check her out, Alex. You'll find that she is impeccable.

I don't like my emotions being jerked around, such as intended by those sappy (video) adds for some children's charity, showing snot-nosed, unkempt and unclean, pot-bellied urchins with tears running down their cheeks ("for only a dollar-a-day you can feed this child and send her to Harvard!" Or better yet, to Congress?).
I do believe this image because I happen to know about Mary Ellen Mark. Otherwise, it could just be another shill.

Like I said in the beginning, its an excellent photo. I'll take Bill Mitchell's word on the photographer's credibility.