Alicia, A Loved One

Mary Ellen Mark

    Activism is more than taking a photograph of challenging situations or painful truths, it is what you do with that image afterward that makes it activism. It's taking that photograph and showing it to the world and demanding change and action from its viewers.

     I was inspired by Mary Ellen Mark who using photography to documents the poor and disenfranchised without belittling them or their way of life. In her work Streetwise, Mark follows runways in Seattle, Washington and photographs the good, the bad, and the complexities that come with being human. The change she creates with her work comes in a way of thinking, showing people that “human nature is complex, and social constructs are convoluted” (Photography as Activism, 49). She shows her subjects as humans, on the same playing field as the rest of us just on a different path.

·           I believe Mark has been successful in creating change even if not in an obvious way. Mark’s focus is to show her subjects in a way that is direct yet multifaceted. She wants to show society that outsiders like Tiny, a 14-year-old prostitute, have layers to who they are just like everyone else, that one thing should not define them and I think her works have been successful in changing that thought process.

              I chose Mark not only because I enjoyed her work and the message she sought to spread through it but because of her intimacy with her subjects. She takes the time to really get to know them and become close to them. Years later she revised her Streetwise projected and photographed Tiny as she is now. For her Falkland Road: Prostitutes of Bombay, she became very close to the woman and girls she photographed. That kind of dedication and commitment is really inspiring.

Mary Ellen Mark, Tiny, 1983

 http://www.maryellenmark.com/books/titles/streetwise/300E-008-019_stwise_520.html

Introduction

 Hi, I'm Aurora. I am a freshman and I intend to Major in History with a Minor in Pre-Law and complete the Accelerated Law Program.

I choose this course because I love animals, especially dogs, and I enjoy photography.