Artist of the Month #3

This month's artist is the world renowned photographer, Mary Ellen Mark.  Mark began her career as a unit photographer, taking pictures of film stills on movie sets.  In her profession, Mark has documented over 100 movies and has published eighteen books of photography.  In 1962, Mark received her BFA in Painting and Art History from the University of Pennsylvania and then earned her MFA in Photojournalism at Annenburg School for Communication.  Since then, Mark has earned several honorary degrees form various Fine Art Schools and has shown in countless solo exhibitions and belongs to scores of collections. 

Mary Ellen Mark

Within her body of work and beyond the movie sets, Mark focuses on social issues: the homeless, prostitutes, loneliness, drug addiction and mental illness.  Mark has traveled around the world to capture human existence in its every form.  For example, Mark recently traveled to India to document Mother Theresa portrayals, brothels in Bombay and Indian circuses.  She is always dedicated to her subjects and often returns to them later in life to continue her archive. 

Mary Ellen Mark

Mark’s techniques are so irritatingly simple that they become complex.  Each of her shots pulls her audience in with intrigue and wonder through her choice of subject and angle.  When asked in an interview about what she looks for when taking a photograph, Mark stated this, “That's a hard question. I'm looking for something that makes sense to me, something that I can share with others. I think photography is closest to writing, not painting. It's closest to writing because you are using this machine to convey an idea. The image shouldn't need a caption; it should already convey an idea.”  This is what makes Mark so brilliant; none of her photos need captions because she always conveys her idea without fail.

Mary Ellen Mark

I find myself enamored with each print Mark creates.  The imagery and tonality of each frame is breath taking.  I feel a connection to her subjects and the raw visuals they create.  I am currently in a film photography class and after learning and digesting all of the factors that go into making a perfect print I have a great respect for Mary Ellen Mark as an artist.

Mary Ellen Mark

The photos included in the post are my favorites of Mary Ellen Mark's that I draw inspiration from when I take photos of my own.  With my own work in film photography, I focus on the person's face as my main focus as the subject of work.  I am still learning a great deal about lighting, angles, composition, and the developing process.  I hope that one day, my work will be in the same league as Mark's.

Here is an example of a couple prints from an in progress film photography project that I am currently working on.

Inspiring Interview: Michael Sparto

Recently, I had the honor of interviewing my inspiring friend Michael Sparto.  Michael is a hair stylist, makeup artist and co-owner of Northside's own Taylor Jameson Hair Design.  In my interview with Michael, he earned even more respect from me than ever before.  He doesn't simply cut hair or dust on some blush, Michael invests himself wholeheartedly in each client's best interests and makes his best effort to help people feel good about themselves using his artist eye and capable hands.  The Taylor Jameson Hair Design staff maintains very high standards with their work.  They serve a large demographic of all ages of both male and female.  

About halfway through the interview, I found Michael's focus of his work to be quite amazing when asked what his greatest challenge as an artist was.  Throughout the interview he mentioned the psychology of the client or person you are working with several times and now was no exception.  He response was,

"Distinguishing between art and perfecting something.  Makeup is delicate, skin is delicate, and you need a delicate hand.  The psychology of the person you are working with is important.  You can be working on a model that has a particular view of themselves and they might forget that they are acting as a canvas for the photo shoot.  How the person views themselves versus what looks good on paper to the client is key."

I was very impressed at how serious Michael is about the individual's mindset.  Personally, it made a lot of sense to me that this is one of the key reasons that he is such a successful artist and business owner.  Michael's art is rather unique in the sense that is a part of an individual and must fit to their personality and be cohesive with them as a whole.  As I continued to interview Michael, it was evident to me that there is still much to learn about people, being part of the makeup industry and makeup techniques in general.

Below is the link to the Taylor Jameson Hair Design Facebook page

http://www.facebook.com/TJHDcinci?fref=ts