This introductory monograph features the work of the legendary photojournalist Mary Ellen Mark (b.1940). Mark's career began in the 1970s with several bodies of work that gained her a reputation as one of the most provocative documentary photographers working today. These projects included her documentataion of the women's maximum security ward of Oregon State Mental Hospital and of the prostitutes in the brothels of Falkland Road in Bombay. Both became subjects for books published in 1979 and 1981 respectively. In 1977 she became a member of the photographic agency Magnum, remaining with the prestigious organization until 1982, when she decided to work independently.

In the 1980s and 1990s she photographed and published books on a range of subjects, including homeless teenagers in Seattle, a holiday camp for children with cancer in California, Mother Teresa, circuses, and most recently, twins in America. She has the unique ability to capture gestures and expressions that translate the intense emotions of her subjects. Compassionate but never literal, her pictures can be humorous, tragic, enigmatic, shocking, and often all of these simultaneously. Mark has received an impressive number of grants and awards, including three National Endowment for Art grants, the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Picture of the Year Award, and five honorary doctorates, including one from the University of Pennsylvania. Under contract with The New Yorker since 2003, she lives in New York City.

With an introductory essay by Charles Hagen, an expert on Mark's work, this book provides the best introduction to Mark's life and work, situating her within the history of photography and highlighting her importance within the field of photojournalism. The 55 photographs are accompanied by one paragraph commentaries that allow the reader to fully appreciate the range of Mark's work.