Mary Ellen Mark on the Portrait and the Moment: The Photography Workshop Series

With Mary Ellen Mark's passing on May 25, 2015, America has lost one it its great chroniclers of our time. This book, one in the Photography Workshop series, was just released on July 28, but went to press before she passed away. It's a beautiful book. Ms.Mark shows us some of her most famous images and explains the processes that went into making them. For those of us who never took her workshops, this is the closest we can get to it. There is a beautiful testament to her in the introduction by one of her students. They're here, Mary Ellen's street photos, her magazine assignment photos, her personal projects, film set stills, circus photos. Ms. Mark closes the book with a gallery of photos by her students, and comments on why she chose those photos for her book. I met Mary Ellen in the 70's on the set of a Lina Wertmuller film in San Francisco. She was taking photos and so was I. She opened the conversation. This book reads like a conversation with Mary Ellen Mark.

In a very matter-of-fact tone of voice, Mary Ellen Mark offers advice and tips to those that listen. Illustrated with a choice selection of her own work and some images by other photographers, she touches on everything that is essential to documentary work and portraiture. This is not a technical instruction manual but an inspiration.

I'm ashamed but I knew nothing about Marry Ellen Mark before purchasing this book. The book is great, and I love every photo, and her advices are more than useful. And finnaly, I was suprised to learn about Polaroid 20*24. What a monster!

Reading this beautifully printed book is like habing s one on one workshop with the late Mary Ellen Marks. She was one ofvthe best of her generation of environmental portrait photographers. This book is destined to become a classic on photography and capturing compelling portraits.

Outstanding user's guide by a key figure in documentary photography. I like her thematic, illustrative approach to providing advice on differing concept advice. This is not a technical book on shooting so much as a content-oriented review of photography. Very well done.

This softcover book is as close as anyone will get to a workshop with MEM unfortunately since she passed in May. That being said, this is fantastic. It's full of stories that go with her portraits that give a nice backstory and there's plenty of tips any kind of photographer can pick up from this book about connecting with your subjects and "gaining access." Don't buy this book if you're looking for a collection of just images. If you want a relatively informative book with some good photographs in it then this is for you. I definitely plan on buying some more of the books from this collection from Aperture.

A great series of books, highly recommended! If you can't afford expensive workshops, or as in this case, if the master photographer has sadly passed on, then these books are a great way of studying with them. Loads of wisdom and experience within these pages.

Great reading with very good structure of all the topics. It provide a complete description of the essence and "rationale" of Mary's work. If you like documentary and portrait photography, this book will bring you illustration, instruction and inspiration, all in one package. I celebrate I got it.

Search youtube video on Mary Ellen Mark, especially the one posted by Smithsonian American Art Museum. It will give you a good idea on the content of this book. If you like the video - then this book is for you. I read this book in one sitting. It will not give you a detailed overview of all her works and everything to know about her, but it's a good overview and summary.

Gran contenido

Great book. Straight forward and to the point, a lot of useful information. I’m a huge Mary Ellen Mark fan and it’s great to hear from her about her process of taking portraits and interacting with her subjects. Definitely worth the buy and a must for your photography book collection.

Molto interessante sia per le foto che per i contenuti

O conteúdo do livro é excelente, principalmente para quem admira o trabalho da autora. O livro, no entanto, que era para ser novo, apresentava diversos desgastes na capa, sujeira e até um pequeno rasgado. Por ser um objeto importado que não é vendido por outras lojas no Brasil, preferi ficar com o produtor ao invés de esperar 60 dias pelo reembolso, comprar novamente e correr o risco de receber em iguais condições ou pior. Com certeza a Amazon irá pro final da lista de opções para comprar livros em papel. A empresa, provavelmente por ser muito grande, tem um processo muito automatizado para trocas e reposição de produtos. Outras empresas oferecem um tratamento direto, com direito a conversa com seres humanos.