Influence - Mary Ellen Mark

Mary Ellen Mark is based in the USA - I came across her work whilst researching images of Burlesque model Dita Von Teese. I really like the contrast in tone of her images particularly the photo below of Dita Von Teese - for me the framing around the image creates a vintage photographic effect. Her work of Von Teese is simple and seductive, the images capture the sheer beauty of the model creating a glamourous effect - her skin looks very porcelain through the use of the diffused light. Your eye is automatically drawn to the top third of the image of Dita's face wearing the black mask - the stark contrast of her pale skin and dark coloured mask really stand out. She looks like a magicians assistant who has been blind folded. The lighting in the image is fairly bright in the top half and gradually fades darker into the bottom half of the shot where some of the detail at the top of her legs and corset is almost lost.

Mary Ellen mainly shoots portraits and has been doing so since the mid 1960's. Her work is fun, she seems appears to focus on portraiture themes - creating social documentaries in quite often far fetched scenarios - she has focused on portraits of twins, people in the circus or rodeos, the fuller figured lady in swimsuits, couples at Prom. Her use of colour and texture whether depicted in black and white or colour - I like the angle the image is taken from above and looking down onto the subject which almost seems to make the woman magnetize in size reflecting all the contours of the ladies full figure which as we often know are not perceived to be glamourous.

In her Miami Beach series I really like the vibrancy and colours taken in the late 1970's - the colours are extremely vivid and quite saturated but this works for me as the colours are bright in Miami due to the bright sunshine - the images reflect old age pensioners retiring to the sunshine state and enjoying themselves and trying to rekindle their youth. I really like how the blue tones in couples clothes compliment the yellow hues in the cushions, the red lipstick, nails and trim on the party hat acts as an accent colour and for me balances the image.