From Library Journal
With a candid intimacy uniquely her own, acclaimed photographer Mark partners with her subjects to make compassionate and complex portraits. By photographing her subjects in their environments, she creates powerful contextual images that make larger comments on the state of affairs in U.S. society. The images span the United States, ranging from Aryan Nations members in Idaho to rodeo workers in Texas, ballroom dancers in Florida, and shelter residents in New York. Also notable are the serial portraits done over years, as with those of Tiny from Seattle (1983-99) and the Damm family (1987-94). This quality collection is an exciting confirmation of Mark's contribution to contemporary photography and will serve both those familiar with her work, as well as newcomers. Mark's 12th book, this first broad survey of her American photographs from the beginnings of her career in 1963 to the present accompanies a major traveling retrospective organized by Aperture opening next month at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Highly recommended for large public and academic libraries, this is also an affordable overview of her work for small public libraries.-Debora Miller, Minneapolis Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The New York Times Book Review, Andrea Barnet
...Mark emotionally engages her subjects, and through this bond we, as viewers, are drawn in too.

Review
"Mark works in a classic documentary mode: her work imprints itself on viewers in the way that only great photography can."--Harpers Bazaar


Book Description
The unspoken poetry of our nation revealed by an American master.

The first collection of the extensive and superlative work realized by Mary Ellen Mark in the United States, Mary Ellen Mark is composed of many previously unpublished images, as well as photographs from several of her best-known projects. From "Streetwise" to "The Damm Family," Mary Ellen Mark includes the most iconic images from these groundbreaking stories, as well as powerful, never-before-seen photographs Mark accomplished in subsequent years. She makes a deeply felt commitment to her subjects, and her empathy and humanity come through in every image.

Mark is unsurpassed at shaping not only the odd but the everyday into genuinely surprising visual icons. With an eye for symbolism and a gift for meticulous composition, she is drawn to a variety of spectacles and situations, and demonstrates a particular affinity for children. Her elegantly revealing imagery creates a fascinating portrait of our complex, amusing, and occasionally unsettling country.


About the Author
Mary Ellen Mark is one of the most important photographers of this century. She lives in New York City.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The unspoken poetry of our nation revealed by an American master.

The first collection of the extensive and superlative work realized by Mary Ellen Mark in the United States, Mary Ellen Mark is composed of many previously unpublished images, as well as photographs from several of her best-known projects. From "Streetwise" to "The Damm Family," Mary Ellen Mark includes the most iconic images from these groundbreaking stories, as well as powerful, never-before-seen photographs Mark accomplished in subsequent years. She makes a deeply felt commitment to her subjects, and her empathy and humanity come through in every image.

Mark is unsurpassed at shaping not only the odd but the everyday into genuinely surprising visual icons. With an eye for symbolism and a gift for meticulous composition, she is drawn to a variety of spectacles and situations, and demonstrates a particular affinity for children. Her elegantly revealing imagery creates a fascinating portrait of our complex, amusing, and occasionally unsettling country.

The first major retrospective of Mark's work opens at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in spring 2000, and will tour throughout North America and Europe.

SYNOPSIS

The unspoken poetry of our nation revealed by an American master.
The first collection of the extensive and superlative work realized by Mary Ellen Mark in the United States, Mary Ellen Mark is composed of many previously unpublished images, as well as photographs from several of her best-known projects. From "Streetwise" to "The Damm Family," Mary Ellen Mark includes the most iconic images from these groundbreaking stories, as well as powerful, never-before-seen photographs Mark accomplished in subsequent years. She makes a deeply felt commitment to her subjects, and her empathy and humanity come through in every image.
Mark is unsurpassed at shaping not only the odd but the everyday into genuinely surprising visual icons. With an eye for symbolism and a gift for meticulous composition, she is drawn to a variety of spectacles and situations, and demonstrates a particular affinity for children. Her elegantly revealing imagery creates a fascinating portrait of our complex, amusing, and occasionally unsettling country.
The first major retrospective of Mark's work opens at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in spring 2000, and will tour throughout North America and Europe.
150 Tritone Images

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal

With a candid intimacy uniquely her own, acclaimed photographer Mark partners with her subjects to make compassionate and complex portraits. By photographing her subjects in their environments, she creates powerful contextual images that make larger comments on the state of affairs in U.S. society. The images span the United States, ranging from Aryan Nations members in Idaho to rodeo workers in Texas, ballroom dancers in Florida, and shelter residents in New York. Also notable are the serial portraits done over years, as with those of Tiny from Seattle (1983-99) and the Damm family (1987-94). This quality collection is an exciting confirmation of Mark's contribution to contemporary photography and will serve both those familiar with her work, as well as newcomers. Mark's 12th book, this first broad survey of her American photographs from the beginnings of her career in 1963 to the present accompanies a major traveling retrospective organized by Aperture opening next month at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Highly recommended for large public and academic libraries, this is also an affordable overview of her work for small public libraries.--Debora Miller, Minneapolis Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\

Paper

Encompassing 35 years of work, this tribute to the strength (and frailty) of the American spirit takes us on a remarkable journey to places both forgotten and ignored. At senior citizen dance contests, KKK rallies, housing projects, meetings for the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance and baby beauty pageants, Mark has assembled an intimate documentary that is moving rather than mocking...

Barnet - The New York Times Book Review