Research: Mary Ellen Mark – American Odyssey

Born in 1940, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is a collection of black and white photographs taken between 1963 and 1999, touching on issues of poverty, discrimination, and life in America. Her subjects are mostly people of the economic and social underclass’s as they pursue their hopes and dreams, while dealing with their day-to-day problems. (From barnesandnoble.com)






(i) The family are gathered on the bed in one room, it is clearly a family in need. The state of the surrounding cries out ‘help me’. The clutter on top of the cabinet combined with the broken down nature of the cabinet itself, shows just how little they have, this may be their entire living space, their lives played out within this room. The focus of the image is the young girl looking up, the despair on her face it very clear to see, the sense of wanting to help them that this image instils in immense.





(ii) This is their home for the time being. The mother looks near death, is it a life worth living? The children are scared and lost, what future do they have to look forward to? The father is cradling there mother, he gives a look of ambivalence, almost as if angry with life and with himself for not being able to do more for his family. This is personally one of the poignant images ever seen, it develops such emotional.






(iii) The boy looks as if he is crawling out of his hiding place in a junk yard; however it is his pet that sits just behind him. This car has been his home, look at the state of it, bits of debris everywhere, it’s a horrible thought. The dog may eat as well has he does. He could be a child from a third world country, out on the streets by himself relying on what bit of food he can scavenge to survive, yet this is America no more than 20 years ago.





(iv) Back in accommodation, the boy and the father share a touching moment. Their eyes meet and they both smile, the bonds that exists given the circumstances is as strong as between any father and son. It is probably the strength they hold that kept them going and it will serve them well if things do not improve. They now have a carpet, a comfy bed and possession; nothing overly special, but they must mean the world to this family.




(v) The boy is stood against the wall, he looks upset. He must have just been disciplined and sent to stand up against the wall to think. The children are still being kept in line, they are not being left to run wild. Again it is clearly only one-room accommodation, now with tv, it must feel like a palace.

This is a very strong set of images about this one family. Photographed a number of times over about 10 years, it shows the emotional plight of one family and their struggle to survive. It really does show that even in the richest of countries, there are still those who barely have enough to live!