Finding the right subject is the hardest part.

- Mary Ellen Mark

Reality is always extraordinary.

- Mary Ellen Mark

A great photograph needs no explanation; it functions by suggestion. There is no need to be explicit.

- Mary Ellen Mark

I'm interested in reality, and I'm interested in survival. I'm interested in people who aren't the lucky ones, who maybe have a tougher time survivin…

- Mary Ellen Mark

I’m just interested in people on the edges. I feel an affinity for people who haven’t had the best breaks in society. What I want to do more than any…

- Mary Ellen Mark

It’s not when you press the shutter, but why you press the shutter.

- Mary Ellen Mark

I don't think you can develop or learn a way of seeing or a point of view. A way of seeing is who you are, how you think and how you create images. I…

- Mary Ellen Mark

In a portrait, you always leave part of yourself behind.

- Mary Ellen Mark

If you are interested in photography because you love it and are obsessed with it, you must be self-motivated, a perfectionist, and relentless.

- Mary Ellen Mark