The story of the girl in Mary Ellen Mark’s iconic photo

Amanda and her Cousin Amy: Mary Ellen Mark photographed Amanda Marie Ellison, 9 (right), and Amy Minton Velasquez, 8, in Valdese, North Carolina, in 1990.

(Courtesy of Mary Ellen Mark Studio and Library)

A good photograph can speak volumes about its subjects, yet still leave you wanting to know more.

The acclaimed and prolific American photographer Mary Ellen Mark, who died May 25 at the age of 75, was known for her humanist portraits: homeless children in Seattle, prostitutes in India, a family living out of its car. In 1990, she took one of her most memorable shots, titled Amanda and her cousin Amy.

“This photograph raises a lot of questions and leaves me with a slightly uneasy feeling,” says Jeff Jacobson, a New York photographer and a friend of Mark’s. “That, I feel, over and over again is the hallmark of her best work.”

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Jul 10

In dog I trust

“On my thirtieth birthday, my wife left me,” Rafael Mantesso said. She took her cookware, furniture, photos, her decorations. She left me alone in an empty all-white apartment. The only thing she didn’t take was my bull terrier, whom she’d named after her favorite shoe designer: Jimmy Choo,” Rafael said.

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Jul 1

This photograph is my proof

Duane Michals (1974)

This photograph is my proof. There was that afternoon, when things were still good between us, and she embraced me, and we were so happy. It did happen. She did love me. Look for yourself.

Apr 17

Shelter dogs’ photobooth images encourage adoption

An animal rescue and adoption organisation based in Utah, U.S., came up with the idea that photobooth images just might help find new homes for the dogs from their shelters.

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Apr 1

A new angle on oceanic imagery

Australian photographer Ray Collins first picked up a camera in 2007 and used it to photograph his friends surfing around his coastal home after long shifts working in a nearby coalmine.

His attention quickly shifted from his friends to patterns and forms he noticed in the waves. Collins, who is colourblind, was also drawn to the interplay of light and water, perhaps more attuned to contrast than the nuance of color.

He poetically refers to this switch from coalminer to fine art photographer as a balance between his “black life and blue life”.

Here’s some more of Ray’s striking oceanic imagery for your viewing pleasure:

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