Born in 1940 in Philadelphia, celebrated American photographer Mary Ellen Mark traveled far and wide during a career that spanned over four decades. Her work, whether documentary or commercial, encompassed a variety of subjects. “Attitude: Portraits by Mary Ellen Mark (1964-2015),” at Howard Greenberg Gallery through June 29, delves into one aspect of Mark's rich oeuvre.In 1983, Mark began photographing the restless and troubled youth living on the streets of Seattle. After documenting them for thirty years, she published the iconic monograph “Streetwise.” Shortly after her death in May last year, Aperture — a major publisher of photobooks — released an expanded version of this book at Paris Photo, which also included Mark’s intimate images of Tiny, a 13-year-old prostitute. The current exhibition, “Attitude,” is curated by Melissa Harris, editor-at-large at Aperture Foundation, and features photographs from “Streetwise.” When it came to editing Mark’s work for the show, Harris said that she defined attitude “in terms of a sense of self” and confidence.It was no secret that Mark was drawn to issues of human interest, and her work in Mexico and India are perhaps the strongest testimonies to this. In “Attitude,” 40 intriguing portraits by Mark are on view. Drawing from her years spent in India, the exhibition features many photographs from her series “Indian Circus.” The images are reminiscent of Diane Arbus’ style of depicting the humorous yet bizarre lives of performers and animals. Also part of the show are photographs from a book that Mark worked on while in India, entitled “Falkland Road”— a bold peek into the lives of sex workers in Bombay’s notorious street by the same name. Sex-work remains illegal in India even today, and Mark’s book became a Bible of sorts for young Indian photographers who wanted to work in similar areas where access was impossible. For the series “Twin and Prom,” Mark photographed siblings at the Twins Days Festival in Ohio and prom-goers in America using large format Polaroids. Also showcased are her celebrity portraits of Yoko Ono, Marlon Brando, Woody Allen, and Sean Penn from her time spent on film sets, holding their own alongside the street and documentary photographs. Mark's work is included in permanent collections at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the International Center of Photography, among many others. She also received several honors, such as the prestigious Lifetime Achievement in Photography Award from George Eastman House in 2014. “Attitude: Portraits by Mary Ellen Mark (1964-2015)” is on exhibit through June 29 at Howard Greenberg Gallery.
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