When I was younger I had a postcard of this Mary Ellen Mark image on my wall. This was kind of in the early days of the internet so it wasn't as easy to find out everything you wanted to know about an artist. I always sort of thought it was a glamorous image. It wasn't until Carlen Altman turned me on to Streetwise the 1984 documentary on teen runaways that I realized that the subject of the photograph Erin 'Tiny' Blackwell was a young prostitute.
You can watch Streetwise in parts on Youtube: here. These photos are from the book by the same name: Streetwise, Aperture.
You can watch Streetwise in parts on Youtube: here. These photos are from the book by the same name: Streetwise, Aperture.
She got to go to the Oscars when the movie was nominated.Mary Ellen Mark went on to photograph Tiny consistently every couple of years. Apparently she had a rough life. The most recent information I could find about her was this article: "Tiny Has Nine Children" from 2006.
