Mary Ellen Mark
(American, 1940–2015)
Jameelia Ricks and Marielle Evangelista, Ithaca High School Prom, June 21, 2008
Object Details
Artist
Mary Ellen Mark
Date
2008
Medium
Instant print (Polaroid)
Dimensions
Image: 24 × 20 inches (61 × 50.8 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired through the generosity of Peter Robbins, Class of 1974, and Jody Robbins
Object
Number
2008.088.003
Mary Ellen Mark was fascinated by celebrations and traditions. She began to photograph high schoo(…)
Mary Ellen Mark was fascinated by celebrations and traditions. She began to photograph high school proms in 1986 while working on her project A Day in the Life of America: “I was fascinated by how the dress and behavior of prom-goers reflected their socioeconomic and cultural differences. . . . The choice of prom partner was also revealing and sometimes unexpected, even amusing. All of us remember our prom dates.”
Her interest grew into a bigger project. Between 2006 and 2009 Mark traveled around the United States photographing proms at twelve high schools and in the pediatric ward of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Shooting these events was a complex affair. On the day of the event, two studios were set up at the prom venue, one for the Polaroid Land Camera and one for filmed interviews. Once the prom began, student subjects were selected, some by teachers and some by scouts who would scan the dance floor, and additional permissions had to be signed by the students or their parents.
In 2008, in collaboration with the Johnson Museum, the Ithaca High School prom became one of these venues. Over the course of the evening, many couples spent time in front of the camera and several were published in Mark’s 2012 book Prom, including Marielle and Jameelia.
(Nancy E. Green, A Handbook of the Collections, 2018)
