Mary Ellen Mark was born in Philadelphia and earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. Her best known works include studies of severely ill women at Oregon State Mental Hospital and runaway teenagers in Seattle. She also worked in India for many years, producing studies of Mother Teresa, circuses, and brothels in Bombay. Mark is a contributing photographer to The New Yorker and has published photographs in LIFE, The New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, and Vanity Fair. She has published numerous books including Passport (1974); Ward 81 (1979); Mary Ellen Mark: 25 Years (1991); Indian Circus (1993); and Portraits (1997).