Mary Ellen Mark (b.1940) began working as a freelance photographer in the mid-1960s. In the 1970s, Mark worked on several bodies of work for which she gained her reputation as one of the most provocative documentary photographers, ensuring her legendary status in the history of photography. In 1976, she documented the women's maximum security ward of Oregon State Mental Hospital, and in 1978 she photographed the prostitutes in the brothels of Falkland Road in Bombay. Both became subjects for books published in 1979 and 1981 respectively. In 1977, she became a member of the photographic agency Magnum, remaining with the prestigious organisation until 1982, when she decided to work independently. In the 1980s and 1990s, she photographed and published books on homeless teenagers in Seattle, a holiday camp for children with cancer in California, Mother Teresa, circuses, and most recently, twins in America. Mark has received an impressive number of grants and awards, including three National Endowment for Art grants, the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Picture of the Year Award, and five honorary doctorates, including one from the University of Pennsylvania. Under contract with "The New Yorker" since 2003, she lives in New York City.
