Ward 81

This picture is one from Mary Ellen Mark's 'Ward 81', a project that took place in a high security ward for women. Of all of the pictures from this project that I looked at while working on my paper, this was one of them that drew my attention the most. It is clearly a girl sitting on her bed in her room, a picture that isn't always inside of a high security ward. What I find interesting is the contrast between the walls. One wall says 'I wish to die' while the other wall is decorated in art and things that the girl, presumably Brenda, relates to. She doesn't look happy, but she doesn't look too distressed either. It seems like Mary Ellen Mark got to know the girl a bit before photograhing her, since bedrooms can really be a personal place. The walls of someone's bedroom are generally a good way to get some insight into who the person is. The girl is pretty much centered in the photo, but the corner between the two walls gives the photo more depth than it could have had. There is quite a bit of contrast in this picture, and it makes it easy for diferent aspects of the photograph to stand out.