photography in all its forms

"I think you reveal yourself by what you choose to photograph, but I prefer photographs that tell more about the subject. There’s nothing much interesting to tell about me; what’s interesting is the person I’m photographing, and that’s what I try to show." Mary Ellen Mark

Aperture is pleased to offer this very special limited-edition photograph by renowned photographer Mary Ellen Mark. Produced in cooperation with IC LAB, under the supervision of the artist, this archival pigment ink print is from the artist’s Twins series, published in book form by Aperture in 2003.

Mark, voted by readers of American Photo as the most influential female photographer of all time, has made some of America’s most iconic images during a career that spans more than three decades, to date. In Twins, Mark turned both her eye and her heart to the extraordinary bond that exists between these very special siblings. For two consecutive years, she set up a studio at the site of America’s premier twins festival, Twins Day, in Twinsburg, Ohio, and invited participants to be photographed. Says Mark, “I’ve always been fascinated by twins. In my forty years of photographing, whenever there was an opportunity, I would take a picture of twins. I found the notion that two people could appear to look exactly alike very compelling.” Mark proceeded to create a compelling body of work, of which this photograph is a part. The astonishing detail afforded by the format used to make this image, the Polaroid 20 x 24, catches the very essence of Heather and Kelsey Dietrick. The Director of IC LAB worked directly with Mark and her studio to produce a print that is a faithful and accurate rendering of the unique Polaroid.

IC LAB and Aperture are pleased to make this image available as an archival pigment ink print in a series of 5 signed and numbered prints, offered exclusively through Aperture. It is a tremendous opportunity to collect the work of one of the living legends of photography.