Mary Ellen Mark: Ward 81

A powerful look into a woman's institutional ward in the late 70's. The remarkably candid comments of the inmates is seamlessly pieced together by Karen Folger Jacobs. With her photography Mary Ellen Mark leaves no doubt in your mind of the horror and medieval state of mental institutions but manages to show the inmates distressed humanity with a dignity that humanizes her subjects who are at times treated very much less than that. A stark and shockingly insightful book.

Ward 81.
Photography by Mary Ellen Mark; foreword by Milos Forman; text by Karen Folger Jacobs.
Damiani, 2008. 96 pp., 85 duotone illustrations., 13x9".

www.maryellenmark.com