January 18 – May 4, 2025
Curated by Gaëlle Morel and Kaitlin Booher
In 1976, photographer MEM embarked on an arduous, self-assigned project with sociologist Dr. Karen Folger Jacobs to document the lives of women living in the high-security, all-female wing of the Oregon State Hospital in the city of Salem. The year before, Mark had photographed there on the set of the Milǒs Forman’s film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and she had met several women who lived on Ward 81 of the hospital. Hoping to better understand and represent their life experiences, Mark and Jacobs arranged to spend a month living alongside the women in Ward 81. The duration of their stay, and their extraordinary access to patients and staff, enabled the collaborators to produce a nuanced and compelling record of female psychiatric treatment in the United States during the mid-1970s. In 1978, Mark and Jacobs published the seminal book Ward 81, which revealed the often-porous line between sanity and mental illness for women relegated to the margins of society. In the words of Jacobs, “They are the women we might have been or one day become.”
Mary Ellen Mark: Ward 81 greatly amplifies that earlier study. Most exciting are the newly discovered audio narratives that the women recorded with Jacobs, which have been integrated into a short film, Moonlight Heaven Black, made for the exhibition by Martin Bell, Mark’s husband. As well, the exhibition brings together never-before-seen prints, contact sheets, and rare archival materials.
The original exhibition was organized by curators Gaëlle Morel and Kaitlin Booher for the Image Centre, Toronto, in collaboration with the Mary Ellen Mark Foundation, New York. It is accompanied by the publication Ward 81: Voices by Mary Ellen Mark and Karen Folger Jacobs, edited by Martin Bell, Julia Bezgin, and Meredith Lue (Steidl, 2023).
25 Dederick Street, Kingston, NY 12401
On view Thursday-Sunday, 11–5 PM
Opening reception:
Saturday, January 18, 2025, 5:00-8:00 PM
Free admission.
BIOGRAPHY
Mary Ellen Mark (1940–2015) was a celebrated American photographer known for documentary photography and portraiture that captured moments of vulnerability and resilience. Her work often focused on marginalized individuals and communities, and subjects like homeless youth, mental health patients, and sex workers. Among her most notable projects are Streetwise (1976), which documents homeless youth in Seattle, and Falkland Road (1981), featuring sex workers in Mumbai. Over her career, she contributed to major publications like Life and The New Yorker and published 20 books. Mark received 66 awards, including a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, leaving a legacy as one of the most respected and authentic voices in documentary photography.
