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.
- Paperback: 164 pages
- Publisher: J. Paul Getty Museum; 1 edition (April 3, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1606061089
- ISBN-13: 978-1606061084
-
Product Dimensions:
13.1 x 10.4 x 0.9 inches
