As a new Mamiya 7II owner, I am now paying attention to all things Mamiya.

So, as I was flipping through the May 2004 issue of Shutterbug, I stopped to read the Mamiya ad on page 5.

I happened to noticed the photo credit is for Mary Ellen Mark.

Then I noticed the Hasselblad ad on the rear cover. The photo credit for this ad is also for Mary Ellen Mark. They even quote her.

No big deal. This is just kind of amuzing to me.

Ummm.... the one that pays me the endorsement fee?

We should all be so lucky.

Photographers are whores. They'll use anybody's camera if they pay them enough.

Actually I'm not even sure that in a Mamiya ad, for instance, and you see a picture of someone's work, that they have to be using that particular camera unless they make a direct statement endorsing it.

In lots of ads you see pictures that were "leased" from stock agencies, and nobody know what equipment they used.

As for the Mary Ellen Mark ones perhaps she did use both.



Michael McBlane

Much of her well known work is with Hasselblad, but I think she also uses a Linhof for 4x5", probably a Master Tech.

This site, called APUG, has some suplimentary info :)

http://www.apug.org/site/main/viewtopic.php?t=1922&highlight=mary+ellen

She is the January 2004 Hasselblad master, goto
http://www.hasselblad.se click Gallery then Masters, scroll down and there she is.

David, Mary Ellen Mark works with any camera available. She describes herself as an "equipment freak". She uses anything from Leica M6 to Polaroid 20x24. One thing that is a must in her equipment is a "razonable short" wide angle lense, 24 to 28 mm in small format, 40 to 50 mm in medium format, 110 to 130 in 4x5. Her web page http://www.maryellenmark.com/, you will see at the front page her last book "Twins" made with a Polaroid 20x24

I had the pleasure of attending a photography talk given by Mary Ellen a few weeks back, and she didn't talk much about equipment, but I believe she did mention both Hasselblad and Leica.

She was very clear on two points, however - that photo-journalism, as it existed a few years back, is pretty much dead. She was *very* unhappy about this. And, she stood there in a theatre where a lot of people where digital users, and she said that film was better than digital. Period. She repeated this multiple times.

At the end of the presentation (where we viewed about 4, perhaps 5 carsosels of slides), she showed her husband's short film on Twins. After seeing the still photographs, it was fun to see the twins 'live' - seeing the stills first gave you a chance to form your impression of the twins, and then the live film showed you if you were correct or not. It was a lot of fun.

Photographers are whores. They'll use anybody's camera if they pay them enough.That has always been my operating principle, absolutely.

(In case anyone over at Hasselblad is reading)

Photographers are whores. They'll use anybody's camera if they pay them enough.


Michael McBlane

Pretty strong language. Using a different tool because you're paid to is not like selling your body for cash. I don't see any moral issue with using a Hassy when you're used to using Mamiya ( or the other way around) they're both fine equipment.

Tell me you would turn down a lucrative photo assignment because the client wants you to use his Hassy. I would take that job in a second even though I use Bronica MF equipment. I do have a mortgage payment to make every month.

I am pretty sure he was joking.

I'll sign up as a "PHOTO WHORE" Beats working for a living!

In the late 80s there was a series of ads for Hassleblad showing various photographers and I remember her being in one of them.

Using a different tool because you're paid to is not like selling your body for cash.

I don't see any moral issue with selling your body for cash. What's your problem with that ? My sister does it for a living, but I think she's a decent and moral person. She recycles and won't vote conservative...