Mary Ellen Mark Goes to the Prom

From the article:

“The inspiration for “Prom” hit Mark when she saw the Malcolm X Shabazz
High School band marching in a New York City parade. She photographed
the Newark, N.J., high school’s prom in May 2006 and the mostly African
American students “were dressed incredibly,” she said. During the first
prom season of 2006, Mark captured an uptight military couple, a
mournful young man and his pregnant date, and a cane-carrying teen in a
zoot suit, complete with a feather in his hat.

Here in Charlottesville, Mark chose which couples to photograph herself (with the help of a
small army of Polaroid-wielding interns). She instructed them to look
for odd pairings — tall and short, black and white, fat and thin,
according to the interns. She had found lesbian couples to photograph
at other high schools, but was still searching for a gay male couple.”

Mary Ellen certainly has the quirky polaroid portrait down; I wonder if she’ll find any twin couples out for a prom spin, a la:

I initially couldn’t find any of the prom images, but then I came upon some behind-the-scenes imagery on the blessed flickr. These are from a prom at Chelsea Piers in New York City:

“The lights flashed and the photo technicians rushed to grab the
enormous 20-by-24-inch black-and-white Polaroid print from the
600-pound oversize camera. After 90 seconds, a buzzer announced that
the photo was finished. ”

Wow, that lady’s outfit is almost Gossip Girl worthy!

I would almost go back to high school if it meant Mary Ellen Mark would take my prom picture. You?