![402J 043 03A, 10/14/04, 3:22 PM, 16G, 5088x7328 (415+335), 100%, Eakins, 1/120 s, R62.1, G45.6, B68.5](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/mary_ellen_mark_402j_043_03a.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
Mary Ellen Mark’s long-time friend and colleague, the American photographer and former Magnum Photos president Charles Harbutt talks to TIME about Mark’s dedication to photography.
I first met Mary Ellen when she applied to join Magnum, the international photographers’ coop. At the time we were trying slowly to rebuild after losing three founding members. Mary Ellen and her pictures were a perfect fit: as elegant as Inge Morath and as intrepid a journalist as Eve Arnold. We’ve been friends ever since.
Mary Ellen considered herself a portraitist, but her pictures were not just the famous. She wanted her work to count, to be about important things in our world, things we should pay attention to. Ultimately, I think her prime theme was the situation for women in our tired old world: Ward 81 a woman’s ward in an asylum, girl prostitutes in Bombay, Tiny (a lifelong project), a homeless child/woman, Mother Theresa, high school Proms, even the Indian circuses, all talk about life and death in our world.
Mary Ellen was physically brave. Covering the 1968 convention in Chicago, by day she was in the midst of the police breaking up the protesters then, at night, elegantly dressed on the Convention floor being leered at by the male delegates.
A week or so ago, we were talking and she said she hated the new academic work over-Photoshoped perfection, “life without the zits and pimples” she said. For herself she wanted to run into the wall, maybe with a little ‘shopping, to die working. Sadly she did.
Charles Harbutt is an American photographer and an associate professor at Parsons, the New School for Design.
Tributes Pour in for Photographer Mary Ellen Mark
![Tiny in her Halloween costume, Seattle, Washington, 1983 Tiny in her Halloween costume, Seattle, Washington, 1983](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/mary_ellen_mark_300e_012_22a.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
!["Rat" and Mike with a gun, Seattle, Washington, 1983 "Rat" and Mike with a gun, Seattle, Washington, 1983](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/mary_ellen_mark_300e_027_18a.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Mona, Ward 81, Oregon State Hospital, Salem, Oregon, USA, 1976 Mona, Ward 81, Oregon State Hospital, Salem, Oregon, USA, 1976](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/mary_ellen_mark_300b-016-035.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Laurie, Ward 81, Oregon State Hospital, Salem, Oregon, USA, 1976 Laurie, Ward 81, Oregon State Hospital, Salem, Oregon, USA, 1976](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/mary_ellen_mark_300b_035_09a.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Kamla behind Curtains with a Customer, Falkland Road, Bombay, India, 1978 Kamla behind Curtains with a Customer, Falkland Road, Bombay, India, 1978](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/mary_ellen_mark_300d_000_013.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Cages. Madam: "Cage girls are the lowest - they only charge two rupees." (Seven rupees equals one dollar.)](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/mary_ellen_mark_300d_001_004.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Water Exercise Group, St. Petersburg, Florida, USA, 1986 Water Exercise Group, St. Petersburg, Florida, USA, 1986](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/mary_ellen_mark_300f_005_14a.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Federico Fellini on the Set of Satyricon, Rome, Italy, 1969 Federico Fellini on the Set of Satyricon, Rome, Italy, 1969](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/mary_ellen_mark_102c_011_19a.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Christina Ricci in her dressing room, Sleepy Hollow, Shepperton Studios, England, 1999](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/mary_ellen_mark_230y_030_021.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Arjun with His Chimpanzee Mira, Great Royal Circus, Gujarat, India 1989 Arjun with His Chimpanzee Mira, Great Royal Circus, Gujarat, India 1989](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/mary_ellen_mark_401s_627_009.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Acrobat Sleeping. Famous Circus, Calcutta, India 1989 Acrobat Sleeping. Famous Circus, Calcutta, India 1989](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/mary_ellen_mark_401s_150_006.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Ram Prakash Singh with His Elephant Shyama, Great Golden Circus, Ahmedabad, India 1990](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/mary_ellen_mark_401t_532_014.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![The Damm Family in Their Car, Los Angeles, California, USA 1987 The Damm Family in Their Car, Los Angeles, California, USA 1987](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/mary_ellen_mark_210k_116_010.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Chrissy Damm and Adam Johnson, Llano, California, 1994 Chrissy Damm and Adam Johnson, Llano, California, 1994](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/mary_ellen_mark_221q_304_003.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Amanda and her cousin Amy, Valdese, North Carolina, USA, 1990 Amanda and her cousin Amy, Valdese, North Carolina, USA, 1990](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/mary_ellen_mark_214h_143_002.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Mother Teresa at the home for the Dying, Mother Teresa's Missions of Charity, Calcutta, India, 1980](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/mary_ellen_mark_300a_034_026.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![402J 043 03A, 10/14/04, 3:22 PM, 16G, 5088x7328 (415+335), 100%, Eakins, 1/120 s, R62.1, G45.6, B68.5](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/mary_ellen_mark_402j_043_03a.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Beautiful Emine posing, Trabzon, Turkey, 1965 Beautiful Emine posing, Trabzon, Turkey, 1965](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/mary_ellen_mark_501j_193_004.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Ned and Fred Mitchell, Twinsburg, Ohio 2001 Ned and Fred Mitchell, Twinsburg, Ohio 2001](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/mary_ellen_mark_405q_012_001.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Heather and Kelsey Dietrick, Twinsburg, Ohio 2002 Heather and Kelsey Dietrick, Twinsburg, Ohio 2002](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/mary_ellen_mark_405q_058_001.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Tottenville Prom: 411F-POL-121
Manhattan, New York, USA 2006 Tottenville Prom: 411F-POL-121Manhattan, New York, USA 2006](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/mary_ellen_mark_411f_pol_121.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![MSKCC Pediatric Prom: 413S-POL-131
Manhattan, New York, USA 2009 MSKCC Pediatric Prom: 413S-POL-131Manhattan, New York, USA 2009](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/mary_ellen_mark_413s_pol_131.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Biden Drops Out of Presidential Race , Endorses Harris to Replace Him
- Why Biden Dropped Out
- The Chaos and Commotion of the RNC in Photos
- Why We All Have a Stake in Twisters’ Success
- 8 Eating Habits That Actually Improve Your Sleep
- Stop Feeling Bad About Sweating
- Welcome to the Noah Lyles Olympics
- Get Our Paris Olympics Newsletter in Your Inbox
Contact us at letters@time.com