Mary Ellen Mark Quotes

34 quotes in 542 categories

• I just think it's important to be direct and honest with people about why you're photographing them and what you're doing. After all, you are…
• 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,…
• I think you reveal yourself by what you choose to photograph, but I prefer photographs that tell more about the subject. There's nothing much interesting…
• Photograph the world as it is. Nothing's more interesting than reality.
• Reality is always extraordinary.
• 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…
• Usually my ideas for work have revolved around my interest in people, especially people that live on the edges of society.
• It’s not when you press the shutter, but why you press the shutter.
• I’m just interested in people on the edges. I feel an affinity for people who haven’t had the best breaks in society. What I want…
• 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…
• I'm a documentary photographer. That's what I've always wanted to be; that's where my heart and soul is.
• No, I don't think you're ever an objective observer. By making a frame you're being selective, then you edit the pictures you want published and…
• Finding the right subject is the hardest part.
• 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…
• 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…
• 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…
• I wanted to travel from the beginning. As a kid, I used to dream about airplanes, before I ever flew in one.
• 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…
• 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…
• The obsessions we have are pretty much the same our whole lives. Mine are people, the human condition, life.

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