Mary Ellen Mark

Streetwise is Mark's 1983 Seattle project about homeless and street-involved teenagers. It became one of her best-known works because of its close relationship with the young people she photographed.

Tiny, whose real name is Erin Blackwell, was one of the central teenagers in Streetwise. Mark continued photographing her over many years, turning one encounter from 1983 into a long-term documentary relationship.

Mark worked close to people on the margins, including circus performers, patients, sex workers, and street youth. Her photographs are intimate but usually direct, with strong attention to character and environment.

Streetwise was also connected to a documentary film directed by Martin Bell, Mark's husband. The project began from Mark's 1983 Seattle work and became a major example of cross-media documentary.