U. grad lives by her lens

In the maximum security wing of a mental institution, a woman lies horizontally across her bed, taken over by what appears to be a spasm of pain. A man clutches his wife as their two children sit next to them in an old dilapidated car that had become their home. These are just two images from the more than 200 photographs world-renowned photojournalist Mary Ellen Mark exhibited at the Annenberg School of Communications yesterday as part of the Women in the Public Sphere series. A graduate of the Annenberg School, Mark has had her photos printed in numerous publications, including Life Magazine, National Geographic, and The New York Times Magazine, according to Communications Professor Klaus Krippendorff. Mark, whose first pictures were published in the Pennsylvania Gazette, said she did not become interested in professional photography until she was 23 years old. Refusing to pull punches before an audience of about 25 people, Mark blasted current magazines for "not dealing with true content." She said magazines have changed in the last ten years by giving into pressure from advertisers to steer clear of the type real-life documentaries Mark insists upon shooting. "A magazine would rather do something commercial," Mark said. "My ideas are not commercial. I really am most interested in the single image -- images that can last by themselves. "At the end of my life I want to say I did pictures that really meant something," she added. Annenberg Graduate student Emory Woodward said he was impressed with Mark's candidness. "I appreciated the criticism she leveled against current photography," Woodward said. "Now I probably have a more critical eye." Krippendorff said Mark's trademark is to only "take the pictures that are real," something which sets her apart from other photographers. "For me, the pictures are really emotionally engaging," Krippendorff said. "That perhaps is the difference between her and other photographers. "She is not just a photographer," he added. "She is someone with a mission. She is someone with a heart." Mark said her pursuit of "real" stories has propelled her on photo shoots ranging from an Oregon mental hospital to the brothels of Bombay. Mark said she tries to photograph "universal subjects." She said one of the keys to her success has been an intimacy with her subjects that has been envied by other photographers. Currently, Mark is working on a book about American life, with photographs ranging in subject from shots of college students on Spring Break to the plight of the poor.