What Happened To The 9-Year-Old Smoking In Mary Ellen Mark's Photo? [NPR.org]

A good photograph can speak volumes about its subjects, yet still leave you wanting to know more.

The acclaimed and prolific American photographer Mary Ellen Mark, who died May 25 at the age of 75, was known for her humanist portraits: homeless children in Seattle, prostitutes in India, a family living out of their car. In 1990, she took one of her most memorable shots, titled, "Amanda and her cousin Amy." The location is listed as Valdese, N.C.

"This photograph raises a lot of questions and leaves me with a slightly uneasy feeling," says Jeff Jacobson, a New York photographer and a friend of Mark's. "That, I feel, over and over again is the hallmark of her best work."

In light of Mark's passing, NPR sought to find out more about the two children in the photograph, particularly Amanda: Why was she smoking and wearing makeup and fake nails at age 9? What does she remember of the photo shoot? And what has happened since that sunny afternoon in 1990?

She now goes by Amanda Marie Ellison — her surname was Minton at the time of the photo. She is 34 years old, lives in Lenoir, N.C., and indeed still remembers the photo.

"Never forgotten it. Never in my life have I forgotten it," she says.

Ellison says Mark formed a bond with her over multiple photo shoots, but after Mark left, Ellison lost track of the photographer's name and phone number. For 25 years, she says she searched for the photo to no avail. Then last month, after Mark's death, her cousin posted the picture to Facebook and tagged Ellison.

"I cried. I cried. Because ... all at once, there it was," Ellison says.

In 1990, Mark had been sent to rural North Carolina by Life magazine to cover a school for "problem children." Ellison was one of those children. "She's my favourite," Mark told British Vogue in 1993. "She was so bad she was wonderful, she had a really vulgar mouth, she was brilliant."

[For more of this story, written by Chris Benderev, go to http://www.npr.org/2015/06/27/417782675/what-happened-to-the-9-year-old-smoking-in-mary-ellen-marks-photo?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20150628&utm_campaign=npr_email_a_friend&utm_term=storyshare]