Photographer 'Mark's the end of the World Press Photo 2004 exhibit

Award-winning photographer Mary Ellen Mark shared a few hours of her time and talent with USC on Thursday night at the Annenberg Auditorium in an event that marked the end of the World Press Photo contest exhibit. The competition hails the world?s best in the photography arena every year, and a gallery of more than 290 winning photos was displayed at the Annenberg School from Jan. 10 to Jan. 29 to honor the awardees for 2004.

Larry Gross, director of the Annenberg School of Communication introduced Mark with pride, calling the event ?a culmination and climax rather than merely the end (of the gallery-related lectures).? Mark, whose haunting portraits of twins from the Ohio Twins Day Festival recently won her first place in the arts and entertainment category, displayed a documentary on twins alongside an extensive slideshow of her work.

While working as a photographer for 30 years, Mark has captured every angle of humanity on film, and has also written 14 books and has been published in magazines such as LIFE and The New York Times Magazine. Though predominantly a documentary photographer, Mark?s work is true art. While Mark continues to defy digital photography by clinging to the world of black-and-white, scans of her prints can be viewed online in her digital library.