Most of us can't imagine a world without images.  Granted, some can't imagine a world without instant messaging and emails, but I don't know anyone who adorns the walls of their office or home with text.  I've been working with pro photographers for the 10 years I've been at Kodak.  Nothing is more inspiring and rewarding.  With this new "Thousand Word" entry, I'll try and give you a brief glimpse into the passion and perspectives of some remarkable photographers.  Their work is all over my office and my home.  I can't imagine it any other way.

MARY ELLEN MARK is recognized as one of today's most respected and influential photographers in the world.  For over four decades, she has traveled extensively to make pictures that reflect a high degree of humanism. Her images of our world's diverse cultures have become landmarks in the field of documentary photography. She has achieved worldwide visibility through her numerous books, exhibitions and editorial magazine work. She is a contributing photographer to The New Yorker and has published photo-essays and portraits in such publications as LIFE, New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, and Vanity Fair.

A photo essay on runaway children in Seattle became the basis of the Academy Award nominated film STREETWISE, directed and photographed by her husband, Martin Bell.

Mary Ellen was presented with the Cornell Capa Award by the International Center of Photography in 2001. She has also received the Infinity Award for Journalism, an Erna & Victor Hasselblad Foundation Grant, and a Walter Annenberg Grant for her book and exhibition project on AMERICA. Among her other awards are the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, the Matrix Award for outstanding woman in the field of film/photography, and the Dr. Erich Salomon Award for outstanding merits in the field of journalistic photography. She was also presented with honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degrees from her Alma Mater, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of the Arts; three fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts; the Photographer of the Year Award from the Friends of Photography; the World Press Award for Outstanding Body of Work Throughout the Years; the Victor Hasselblad Cover Award; two Robert F. Kennedy Awards; and the Creative Arts Award Citation for Photography at Brandeis University.

Q. What are you trying to achieve in your work?

Mary Ellen: I'm trying to make great images and that's not so easy. Great pictures are those that become iconic, the images that people remember and that have your signature on them. That's what I strive for but it's very difficult.

Q. What makes an image iconic?

Mary Ellen: It's very hard to define.  It has to be an image that evokes all kinds of feelings in the viewer.
It's the same thing with music, writing, and paintings. The work you remember is work that transcends the moment.

Q. Do you keep in touch with the people you photograph?

Mary Ellen: I'm really grateful to the people that have allowed me into their lives. I think it's very important, when it's possible, to keep in contact with those people. It's fascinating to see and document how people change and what life brings. I have been photographing Erin Blackwell (Tiny) since she was 13.  I photographed her and her nine children (she's about to have her tenth) for 25 years.  It has been an invaluable experience for me.

Q. What assignment or moment in your career has affected you the most?

Mary Ellen: That's an impossible question because it's cumulative. Every project I've worked on, whether it's Mother Teresa, the prostitutes in Bombay, Ward 81, or the Twins—all of them have affected me.  There's nothing more rewarding than looking at your contact sheets when you feel you've achieved something that is powerful.

Q. What do you believe is your ultimate responsibility as a photographer?

Mary Ellen: If you're a documentary photographer being honest and fair is your ultimate responsibility.

Q. What are the challenges of being a film photographer in a digital era.

Mary Ellen: Most photographers that I really admire are still shooting film. I've shot with Tri-X for more than 45 years and the look of my images has to do with that film stock.  Shooting digitally doesn't quite fit in with what I do. I love the look of Tri-X and it's taken me years to understand what it does.

I think digital has a real purpose and I respect it, but at the same time I think it's a big mistake that many schools have stopped teaching film and discontinued their darkrooms. Film and digital are different mediums and I think schools should teach both mediums and students should have the experience of both mediums.

Q: Why do you like Tri-X film?

Mary Ellen: I like the grain structure in Tri-X film.  I also like that Tri-X has a huge range especially when you rate it at 200. Tri-X is very much a part of the look of my photographs.

Q. What have you learned over the years?

Mary Ellen: I've learned everything from all of the different people that I've met and photographed over the years:  their similarities and their differences.

Q: Have you found a way to define what the common spark of humanity is that makes us all similar? 

Mary Ellen: The common threads of humanity exist in all of us -
love, hate, humor, tragedy, sadness, envy, greed. The important thing is to see the humanity in everybody.

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