The illustrious and beloved photographer Mary Ellen Mark died in May 2015, but before she did, she finished the decades long project for which she first gained renown in the 1980’s, Streetwise. Mark’s gritty, no holds barred depiction of youthful outcasts in Seattle introduced the world to a 13-year old prostitute called Tiny. For reasons that remain a mystery to the viewer, Mark and Tiny forged an enduring relationship that allowed the photographer to return again and again, delving ever deeper into Tiny’s evolving life. Now Mark’s rich retrospective, Tiny: Streetwise Revisited, is making its debut appearance in Palm Beach, Florida’s Norton Museum through March 20, 2016.
“Tiny at the Amusement Park with ‘Horsey’, 1983” by Mary Ellen Mark (courtesy of the artist’s estate and Norton Museum, Palm Beach).
When we meet her in 1983, Tiny’s eclipsed world appears suffocating, but her naiveté and dreams are outsized. Shooting entirely with B&W film, using 35mmm and medium format cameras, Mark’s beautifully tonal gelatin silver prints follow Tiny across decades: the fraught relationship with her threatening mother, the birth and growth of her ten children and the implied troubles with the their absent fathers, concluding with the impoverished, obese, forty-five year old woman Tiny has become today.
“Tiny with Pat, 1999” by Mary Ellen Mark (courtesy of the artist’s estate and Norton Museum, Palm Beach).
It is a disturbing journey, one in which all too predictable cycles of poverty, homelessness, illness and addiction play out before us. Throughout, Mark adheres to the venerable documentary custom of shooting full frame, with edges evident as proof against tampering, and her signature “no smiling faces” style. With her masterful use of wide angle lenses, Mark crafts compelling, dynamic compositions, creating distortions that accentuate the intense socioeconomic and emotional isolation of her subjects. An early image of Tiny clinging to her stuffed animal “Horsey” echoes down the generations as we see her children (even teens) grasping toys in the same bid for safety and comfort. In another, shadows from a window pane signal that Tiny is trapped, implying the same fate for her nearby, headless child.
“Tiny and Ranaja on the Bed, 2004” by Mary Ellen Mark (courtesy of the artist’s estate and Norton Museum, Palm Beach). Installation photo by Elin Spring, with apologies.
As piercing, skillful and fascinating as these photographs are, they also make me feel like a voyeuristic intruder. After all, I can do nothing to help Tiny and neither – apparently – could Mark. She once said in an interview, “Through my photos, I hope that other people will see those who have a tougher time in life and be more sympathetic to humanity.” If only. Although politically provocative and emotionally revealing, I sense that Mark’s disciplined study did nothing to alter Tiny’s foreseeable trajectory.
“Tiny Crying on the Couch, 2014” by Mary Ellen Mark (courtesy of the artist’s estate and Norton Museum, Palm Beach).
For more information about this exhibit, go to: http://www.norton.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=exhibitions.details&content_id=2312
Feature Images: Left: “Tiny, Halloween, Seattle, 1983” & Right: “Tiny in the Bathroom with Rayshon and E’Mari, 2003” silver gelatin prints by Mary Ellen Mark (courtesy of the artist’s estate and Norton Museum, Palm Beach).
“Tiny with her dogs Bean and Khloe, 2014” by Mary Ellen Mark (courtesy of the artist’s estate and Norton Museum, Palm Beach). Installation photo by Elin Spring, with apologies.
Share On Facebook
Tweet It
