Everyone asks me how I get my subjects to open up to me. There’s no formula to it. It’s just a matter of who you are and how you talk to people - of being yourself. Mary Ellen Mark More Quotes by Mary Ellen Mark More Quotes From Mary Ellen Mark When you're working on a film, it's almost like photographing paintings at a museum. You're photographing somebody else's world. I just try and interpret it and make it real, and make it what the actors are about, what the director is about, and what the film is about. Mary Ellen Mark real trying museums That's the way I learned photography: You make your picture in the camera. Now, so much is made in the computer. ... I'm not anti-digital, I just think, for me, film works better. Mary Ellen Mark cameras photography thinking I was fascinated by my own prom pictures. Mary Ellen Mark prom fascinated my-own I think the prom is very serious also. It's an American ritual, it's a rite of passage, and it's very much a part of this country. Mary Ellen Mark serious country thinking I'm not against digital photography. It's great for newspapers. And there are photographers doing great work digitally. When they use Photoshop as a darkroom tool, that's fine, too. But at this point of my life, after so many years, I don't really want to change, and I still love film. Mary Ellen Mark photography tools years It's just a matter of who you are and how you talk to people. Your subjects will trust you only if you're confident about what you're doing. It really bothers me when photographers first approach a subject without a camera, try to establish a personal relationship, and only then get out their cameras. It's deceptive. I think you should just show up with a camera, to make your intentions clear. People will either accept you or they won't. Mary Ellen Mark trying people thinking Im just interested in what makes a photograph. Mary Ellen Mark photograph Learning how to use different formats has made me a better photographer. When I started working in medium format, it made me a better 35 mm photographer. When I started working in 4x5, it made me a better medium-format photographer. Mary Ellen Mark different photographer use I wanted to travel from the beginning. As a kid, I used to dream about airplanes, before I ever flew in one. Mary Ellen Mark airplane dream kids I think you have to have a real point of view that's your own. You have to tell it your way. And, I think that it's a mistake to shoot for a specific magazine's point of view because it's never going to be as good. You have to shoot for yourself and photograph [ the way] you believe it. Mary Ellen Mark real mistake believe When I started out, it was considered very wrong to change an image. There were scandals if someone inserted a sky into a war picture or something. Now it's all about that. Mary Ellen Mark scandal sky war I go into every story thinking I'm going to fail. I think about that all the time - I think it's going to be terrible. Every story is like the first I've ever done. Mary Ellen Mark done firsts thinking The subject gives you the best idea of how to make a photograph. So I just wait for something to happen. Mary Ellen Mark waiting giving ideas I’m trying to please myself; certainly that’s a big criterion... though in a sense, I don’t take images just for myself. I take images that I think other people will want to see. I don’t take pictures to put in a box and hide them. I want as many people to see them as possible. Mary Ellen Mark trying people thinking I work in colour sometimes, but I guess the images I most connect to, historically speaking, are in black and white. I see more in black and white - I like the abstraction of it. Mary Ellen Mark black-and-white colour sometimes I'm a documentary photographer. That's what I've always wanted to be; that's where my heart and soul is. Mary Ellen Mark documentaries soul heart I respect newspapers but the reality is that magazine "photojournalism" is finished. They want illustrations, Photoshopped pictures of movie stars. Mary Ellen Mark illustration stars reality I want my photographs not only to be real but to portray the essence of my subjects also. In order to do that, you have to be patient. Mary Ellen Mark real essence order A good print is really essential. I want to take strong documentary photographs that are as good technically as any of the best technical photographs, and as creative as any of the best fine-art photographs. [...] I don't want to just be a photo essayist; I'm more interested in single images...ones that I feel are good enough to stand on their own. Mary Ellen Mark photography strong art I always wanted to photograph the universal subjects. Mary Ellen Mark subjects photograph wanted
