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Friday, March 20, 2009

influence: streetwise

My bf recently came home with the book Seen Behind the Scene: forty years of photographing on set by Mary Ellen Mark. I had somehow forgotten the fact that MEM was a significant photography inspiration while I was growing up. One of her projects that really influenced me was Streetwise.
Streetwise is a stark photo essay and Academy Award Nominated documentary film. It's an intimate portrait of teenagers who survive as pimps, prostitutes, panhandlers and small-time drug dealers living on the streets of Seattle in the early 80's.
Here are some shots of "Tiny" a 14 year old prostitute and focus character:





(Her style seems so editorial and fashion relevant today)
I strongly recommend checking out both the film and photo essay.

Resources: youtube, Book

4 comments:

Leti said...

I love Tiny!

Aubrey Longley-Cook said...

What a inspiring photo essay. Thanks!

One Love Photo said...

One of my very favorite photographers. I love this collection and also her photos from the mental ward are very moving as well.

Kitty Stampede said...

This is nuts...I swear, I was gonna do a post on this like last week...My bf and I Adored the movie. Its one of my all time favorite docs, so well done, it didn't even seem like a documentary, it was gorgeously filmed...awww...Tiny!
My bf and I are addicted to documentaries especially about street people and drugs..not sure why, but the lifestyle is fascinating.