In 1965, I was in Trabzon in eastern Turkey on a Fulbright scholarship. I would get up every morning and walk around the streets and look for photographs.

What I'm trying to do is make photographs that are universally understood... that cross cultural lines. I want my photographs to be about the basic emotions and feelings that we all experience.

I don't like to photograph children as children. I like to see them as adults, as who they really are. I'm always looking for the side of who they might become.

Mary Ellen Mark Quotes