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Prom
The high school prom is an American tradition, a rite of passage, and one of the most important rituals of youth in this country. The internationally recognized documentary photographer Mary Ellen Mark took on the extraordinary challenge of working with the Polaroid 20x24 Land camera to produce this fascinating look at dozens of young people from a diverse range of backgrounds on this memorable night in their lives.
Traveling across the United States to complete the project from 2006 to 2009, Mark photographed prom-goers at thirteen schools from New York City to Charlottesville, Virginia, to Houston to Los Angeles. Mark’s husband, the filmmaker Martin Bell, collaborated with her on the project to produce and direct a film, also called Prom, featuring interviews with the students about their lives, dreams, and hopes for the future. A DVD of the film is packaged with the book.
The 127 large-format photographs are reproduced in rich detail, and quotations from the student interviews punctuate the book. Some of the students’ statements are comical, while others are deeply touching. The result is a captivating and revealing document of American youth at the beginning of the twenty-first century.
Traveling across the United States to complete the project from 2006 to 2009, Mark photographed prom-goers at thirteen schools from New York City to Charlottesville, Virginia, to Houston to Los Angeles. Mark’s husband, the filmmaker Martin Bell, collaborated with her on the project to produce and direct a film, also called Prom, featuring interviews with the students about their lives, dreams, and hopes for the future. A DVD of the film is packaged with the book.
The 127 large-format photographs are reproduced in rich detail, and quotations from the student interviews punctuate the book. Some of the students’ statements are comical, while others are deeply touching. The result is a captivating and revealing document of American youth at the beginning of the twenty-first century.
- GenresPhotographyNonfictionArt
164 pages, Hardcover
First published April 3, 2012
54 people want to read
About the author
Mary Ellen Mark
60 books35 followersMary Ellen Mark, born 1940, has achieved worldwide visibility through her numerous books, exhibitions and editorial magazine work. She is a contributing photographer to The New Yorker and has published photo-essays and portraits in such publications as Life, New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, and Vanity Fair. For over four decades, she has travelled extensively to make pictures that reflect a high degree of humanism. Today, she is recognized as one of our most respected and influential photographers. Her images of our world's diverse cultures have become landmarks in the field of documentary photography. Her portrayals of Mother Teresa, Indian circuses, and brothels in Bombay were the product of many years of work in India. A photo essay on runaway children in Seattle became the basis of the academy award nominated film STREETWISE, directed and photographed by her husband, Martin Bell.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 17, 2014
Book blurb: The high school prom is an American tradition, a rite of passage, and one of the most important rituals of youth in this country. The internationally recognized documentary photographer Mary Ellen Mark took on the extraordinary challenge of working with the Polaroid 20x24 Land camera to produce this fascinating look at dozens of young people from a diverse range of backgrounds on this memorable night in their lives.
Having not grown up in the States, the only prom I attended was my college one, and I find that there is something precious, and fleeting, and captivating about high school proms. Maybe it is that these kids are on the cusp of the rest of their lives. Maybe it is because at that age, many wear their hopes and dreams and fears right out there for everyone to see. These 127 large-format, black and white photographs are a wonderful window into the souls of these kids at the very brink of adulthood.
Note: This book comes with a DVD of a film with the same title that the photographer's husband produced featuring interviews with the students. I have yet to watch it.
Having not grown up in the States, the only prom I attended was my college one, and I find that there is something precious, and fleeting, and captivating about high school proms. Maybe it is that these kids are on the cusp of the rest of their lives. Maybe it is because at that age, many wear their hopes and dreams and fears right out there for everyone to see. These 127 large-format, black and white photographs are a wonderful window into the souls of these kids at the very brink of adulthood.
Note: This book comes with a DVD of a film with the same title that the photographer's husband produced featuring interviews with the students. I have yet to watch it.
May 20, 2012
Using a Polaroid 20x24 Land Camera, which weighs in at a hefty 240 pounds and stands about 6 feet tall, Mary Ellen Mark photographed couples/attendees from several proms across the country. The black and white photographs are quite dramatic, but the subjects in many of them look so serious that it’s hard to imagine them having any fun. Smiles? Few and far between. The accompanying DVD – a documentary of Prom, directed by Martin Bell – shows interviews with a number of the couples asking them various questions about their outfits, their dates, their plans for the future, etc. This really helps humanize the photos and shows that the teens are like teens pretty much anywhere (*breathes a sigh of relief*). Beautiful book, great for browsing, and insightful interviews (wish they’d been able to interview everyone for the documentary!).
August 11, 2018
Very nice photography of various prom couples.
November 14, 2019
Never knew you could take such beautiful photos with a Polaroid, but I guess if it’s one of the only ones in the world, requires a team of technicians and weighs 240 lbs, anything is possible !
May 5, 2025
The photographs featuring smiles stood out to me the most.
May 10, 2013
The prom is such an iconic pop culture phenomenon, the climax of so many YA books and romantic comedies. I doubt I will ever forget that last scene in Pretty in Pink, a movie whose plot centers around a prom. But of course the real-life experience of prom is a whole other thing. Whether you loved your prom, you felt let down by it, or simply didn’t go, it is likely that you have some memories of it. Because even if it wasn’t a magical movie moment, the prom in most high schools is a pretty big deal. Such a big deal that photographer Mary Ellen Mark went to 13 schools across the US and took black & white photos of hundreds of couples. This book gathers 127 of those pictures. They stand in stark contrast to the soft-focus, over-posed images that couples and groups buy from school-sanctioned photographers as a souvenir of the event. Mark’s pictures are well-lit, semi-candid images which allow the viewer to really see these students and maybe learn something about their relationships to each other. The bedazzled dresses, gawky hand-holding, acne, and genuine smiles took me back a few decades to my own high school dances. The accompanying fizzy hopes of romance, genuine affection for friends, and no little disappointment at how my real-life prom was nothing like the movie prom came bubbling to the surface as I looked at these kids faces and read their quotes.
July 24, 2014
NOTE: I have not watched the DVD, so this review is based on the book alone.
At first glance it seems pretty gimmicky, Mark travelling around with a 20x24 Polaroid, taking prom night photos and putting it all into a book that HEY! comes with a DVD. Paging through the photos, though, it becomes clear there's something very special going on here.
Despite the locations, outfits and backdrops being the same as your average ordinary prom night shots, there are waves of humanity and emotion pouring off of every page. That's no small feat, considering most of the subjects are standing stock-still, arms at their sides, and unsmiling.
Mark captures/draws out so much personality in each subject's eyes and subtle body language. It's incredible. Portraiture isn't among my top photographic interests, but if it were, I'd try to learn a lot more about Mark and her techniques.
As good as the photos are, the theme does get repetitive after a while, and I think the book would be that much better if it were shorter by a half or a third. For me personally, I don't see it being something I'd feel the desire to revisit over and over again. Great book to borrow from the library, but I wouldn't buy it.
At first glance it seems pretty gimmicky, Mark travelling around with a 20x24 Polaroid, taking prom night photos and putting it all into a book that HEY! comes with a DVD. Paging through the photos, though, it becomes clear there's something very special going on here.
Despite the locations, outfits and backdrops being the same as your average ordinary prom night shots, there are waves of humanity and emotion pouring off of every page. That's no small feat, considering most of the subjects are standing stock-still, arms at their sides, and unsmiling.
Mark captures/draws out so much personality in each subject's eyes and subtle body language. It's incredible. Portraiture isn't among my top photographic interests, but if it were, I'd try to learn a lot more about Mark and her techniques.
As good as the photos are, the theme does get repetitive after a while, and I think the book would be that much better if it were shorter by a half or a third. For me personally, I don't see it being something I'd feel the desire to revisit over and over again. Great book to borrow from the library, but I wouldn't buy it.
December 8, 2015
My interest in Mary Ellen Mark started with her other projects--notably Ward 81 and Streetwise---but for some reason, this collection is the only Mark book in the library. (The benign subject matter maybe??)
It's pretty charming, though. I read it like I read poems: tear through the first read (viewing?), just get a feel for what it is. Then read the intro and the appendix of quotes, and go through the book once again, slowly, comparing the ideas and words to first impressions.
Which is way more than I got from my own prom, I'll tell you that much.
It's pretty charming, though. I read it like I read poems: tear through the first read (viewing?), just get a feel for what it is. Then read the intro and the appendix of quotes, and go through the book once again, slowly, comparing the ideas and words to first impressions.
Which is way more than I got from my own prom, I'll tell you that much.
July 19, 2013
I am mesmerized by the photographs. This 3-year odyssey, criss-crossing the States, photographing teen couples in their prom get up. The photographs are formal black and whites, and the teens seem so much older than their years, and than the teens I see wandering around. They face the camera sternly, the clothes an odd mix of risque and naive. There are mixed race couples, gay couples, oddly shaped couples, flashy couples. I wonder what world they live in.
May 3, 2012
MEM is a brilliant social commentator and visionary artist in equal measure. And her husband Martin Bell is an excellent filmmaker.
Anyone pondering the future of this country will want to read this, and watch MB's enclosed DVD ... poignant, funny, tragic, and downright terrifying all at the same time.
Anyone pondering the future of this country will want to read this, and watch MB's enclosed DVD ... poignant, funny, tragic, and downright terrifying all at the same time.
Read
February 11, 2013Ok this was a very interesting book of photos. One of the high schools was on the cape. The cool part was that the book came with a 30 mintue DVD. That was a cool bonus. If you are into photography and want to see the different types of proms there are, I'd def get this book.
June 12, 2012
Perfectly captures the awkwardness of prom night. Strange and interesting photos, by a master.
February 18, 2013
I love the info and quotes about the couples in the back. So interesting!
March 12, 2013
painful to watch the DVD but I loved the pictures.
May 12, 2014
Mary Ellen Mark makes her subjects look painfully awkward a lot of the time which seems like a potential harmful thing to do to teenagers... but makes for interesting viewing.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews