Heather & Kelsey Dietrick, 7 yrs. Old, Kelsey older by 66 minutes, 2002

"I think you reveal yourself by what you choose to photograph, but I prefer photographs that tell more about the subject. There's nothing much interesting to tell about me; what's interesting is the person I'm photographing, and that's what I try to show."

–Mary Ellen Mark

Produced in cooperation with IC LAB, under the supervision of the artist, this archival pigment ink print by renowned photographer Mary Ellen Mark is from the artist's Twins series, published in book form by Aperture in 2003.

Mark, voted by readers of American Photo as the most influential female photographer of all time, has made some of America's most iconic images during a career that spans more than three decades to date. In Twins, Mark turned both her eye and heart to the extraordinary bond between these very special siblings. For two consecutive years, she set up a studio at the site of America's premier twins festival, Twins Day, in Twinsburg, Ohio, and invited participants to be photographed.

Says Mark, "I've always been fascinated by twins. In my forty years of photographing, whenever there was an opportunity, I would take a picture of twins. I found the notion that two people could appear to look exactly alike very compelling." Mark proceeded to create a compelling body of work, of which this photograph is a part. The astonishing detail afforded by the format used to make this image, the Polaroid 20 x 24, catches the very essence of Heather and Kelsey Dietrick. The Director of IC LAB worked directly with Mark and her studio to produce a print that is a faithful and accurate rendering of the unique Polaroid. This image is available as an archival pigment ink print in a series of 5 signed and numbered prints offered exclusively through Aperture.

Archival Pigment Print
Edition of 5 and 5 Artist’s Proofs
Paper Size: 37 x 40 inches
Image Size: 33 x 40 inches
Signed and numbered by the artist

Mary Ellen Mark (b. 1940, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; d. 2015, New York City) achieved worldwide visibility through her numerous books, exhibitions, and editorial magazine work. Among her many publications, most recently Seen Behind the Scene (Phaidon, 2008), are Mary Ellen Mark: American Odyssey (Aperture, 1999), Mary Ellen Mark: 25 Years (Bulfinch, 1991), and Falkland Road (Steidl, 2007; Knopf, 1981). Her photographs have appeared in such publications as the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, Vogue, and Life. Her works are held in public and private collections throughout the world.