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In many ways photographer Mary Ellen Mark has led a charmed life. A photojournalist by trade, she's perhaps best known for her 

 which became the seed for the documentary film   "

" that she directed alongside her husband Martin Bell.

She's photographed injustices all over the world, traveling to India, Turkey, and many parts of Africa. But in order to fund her passion she needed a more profitable "day job."

She found that job in Tinseltown, documenting life on movie sets at a different angle from the director's camera.

A selection of those photographs are currently on display at Weinstein Gallery in Minneapolis in 

"Seen Behind the Scene/40 Years of Photographing on Set."

While taking photos of Hollywood stars was her "day job," it also had a profound effect on her documentary work. After being assigned to "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" Mark returned to live in the Oregon State Hospital for more than a month, documenting the life of the women confined to maximum security in 

The way she took photographs changed, too.

Mark says ultimately, whether on the set or on the street, she's looking for the same thing - a moment that's "graphic and that tells a story and that has an edge to it – I’m always looking for that edge."

A devout traditionalist, Mark still works with analog film and a Leica camera and refuses to crop her pictures. At 73, she says she’s “out of shape” when it comes to street photography, but her appetite for social justice hasn’t diminished. She recently finished a project looking at healthcare for children around the globe.

"Seen Behind the Scene/40 Years of Photographing on Set" 

Arts and Culture

State of the Arts Blog

Marianne Combs

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In many ways photographer Mary Ellen Mark has led a charmed life. A photojournalist by trade, she’s perhaps best known for her series on street kids for Life magazine which became the seed for the documentary film   “Streetwise” that she directed alongside her husband Martin Bell. She’s photographed injustices all over the world, traveling to…

Mary Ellen Mark captures life on set, off camera

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