W.M. Hunt

 #somereallygoodones, #maryellenmark, #falklandroad, #sonyworldphoto, #twins

It’s hard to find a single word to describe Mary Ellen Mark (1940-2015). Great, tough, fierce, fun, smart — all those certainly fit. Genius? I think so.

We had various dealings for awhile before she died including the week she was presented the SONY World Photography Awards for Outstanding Contribution to Photography in 2014. I emceed the annual ceremony in London for five years. It was a great gig. It was easy work because I love talking about photography, and SONY paid me and expensed two trips to the UK. There wasn’t much for me to do the actual day of the awards so I got the organizers to set up a conversation between the two of us open to the public.  

Mary Ellen was not in good shape; she had real health concerns and was pissed off at everything most of the time. She didn’t have anyone to ventilate to so in my most masochistic fashion I served myself up as her personal punching bag. On behalf of all photography, I figured it was the least I could do.

The morning of the conversation she was in a particularly foul temper which worsened when I revealed to her that I was wanting to talk about some of her work that was not included in the “approved” rotation of images provided by her studio. "Where did you get them?” she asked and was not happy to discover that they were all online. She had very, very strong feelings about copyright so that wasn’t something she wanted to hear. She liked to be in control and was in a tailspin before we sat down.  

I did manage to get off what I thought was a very funny remark. She introduced me to her English doctor and then to her very very good friend “Lady Fa Fa” or whomever, Mary Ellen said they knew each other from their old “Falkland Road” days. “Falkland Road” was Mark’s color project about sex workers in Bombay (now Mumbai). I turned to Lady F. And said, “Well, you certainly landed on your feet.” Mary Ellen looked stricken, but Lady Fa Fa, to her credit, laughed heartily.  

I was ready to go!

The good news is that Mary Ellen was collegial and brilliant. Witness the greatest compliment of all in the attached photo. She is smiling, almost grinning.  

Mary Ellen was not a grinner.  

But she was a pro. She made great pictures, did books, taught, made films with her wonderful husband Martin Bell. 

She could be incredibly generous. I hope she didn’t feel bullied into giving me a small print of her portrait of twins in a stroller: one smiling like the mask of comedy and the other tragedy. I am dazzled by her ability to work in a photographic shorthand. This is a strong frontal image, and her wry edit captures a very subtle but telling difference between the two crying kids.   

She could tell a story with quick strokes, and she made it look effortless   

I miss her.  

© 2021

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