Earlier in the month, there was an inspiring day of events with Mary Ellen Mark in Austin.

The new Austin Center of Photography brought Mark to town for their Icons of Photography lecture series (to be followed by Alec Soth in June).

The more interactive and introspective event was the Texas Monthly Talks interview I sat in on at the KLRU studios.
Mary Ellen repeatedly lamented on the current state of publications–how much of her work wouldn’t be possible for photographers to get assigned to today (such as essentially being granted by a magazine to cover prostitutes in Bombay for 3 months). She’s disappointed that magazines very rarely publish lasting images, reminiscing on Life magazine publishing W. Eugene Smith and Robert Capa images regularly. She believes most of today’s magazines aren’t interested in reality, they are interested in commercial illustrations, and are underestimating their audience. It was insightful hearing her articulate the difference between reality based reportage photography and illustrative photography. To stay faithful to reality, Mark often uses a Polaroid 20×24 camera with 2 assistants (since it weighs 235 pounds).

Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy: Los Angeles, Califorinia, USA 1978