Mark Cohen (photographer)
Encyclopedia
Mark Cohen is an American photographer best known for his innovative street photography
.
. He attended Penn State University
and Wilkes College
between 1961 and 1965, and opened a commercial photo studio in 1966. Cohen’s photography was first exhibited in the 1969 exhibition Vision and Expression organised by Nathan Lyons
at George Eastman House
. He has twice been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship
and received a National Endowment for the Arts
grant
in 1975. A monograph of black and white photographs, Grim Street, was published in 2005 by powerHouse Books
. A second book, True Color, followed in 2007.
The majority of the work for which Cohen is known is shot in the neighbourhoods of Wilkes-Barre and Scranton
. Characteristically he shoots his subjects close in, often using a wide-angle lens and flash, frequently cropping the subjects' heads from the frame, concentrating on small details and moments.
Cohen has described his method as 'intrusive'. "They're not easy pictures. But I guess that's why they're mine."
Discussing his influences with Thomas Southall in 2004 he cites ". . . so many photographers who followed Cartier-Bresson
, like Frank
, Koudelka
, Winogrand
, Friedlander
." He also recognises the influence of Diane Arbus
. Whilst acknowledging these influences he says: "I knew about art photography...Then I did these outside the context of any other photographer."
Street photography
Street photography is a type of documentary photography that features subjects in candid situations within public places such as streets, parks, beaches, malls, political conventions and other settings....
.
Life and career
Cohen was born and lives in Wilkes-Barre, PennsylvaniaWilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Wilkes-Barre is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, the county seat of Luzerne County. It is at the center of the Wyoming Valley area and is one of the principal cities in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area, which had a population of 563,631 as of the 2010 Census...
. He attended Penn State University
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...
and Wilkes College
Wilkes University
Wilkes University is a private, non-denominational American university located in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. It has over 2,200 undergraduates and over 2,200 graduate students...
between 1961 and 1965, and opened a commercial photo studio in 1966. Cohen’s photography was first exhibited in the 1969 exhibition Vision and Expression organised by Nathan Lyons
Nathan Lyons
Nathan Lyons is an American artist and photographer who currently lives and works in New York. The artist's body of work consists primarily of photographs which focus on American culture...
at George Eastman House
George Eastman House
The George Eastman House is the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in Rochester, New York, USA. World-renowned for its photograph and motion picture archives, the museum is also a leader in film preservation and...
. He has twice been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
and received a National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
grant
in 1975. A monograph of black and white photographs, Grim Street, was published in 2005 by powerHouse Books
PowerHouse books
powerHouse Books is an independent publisher of art and photography books founded in 1995 by Daniel Power, and is located near the Brooklyn waterfront of DUMBO in The powerHouse Arena...
. A second book, True Color, followed in 2007.
The majority of the work for which Cohen is known is shot in the neighbourhoods of Wilkes-Barre and Scranton
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area. Scranton had a population of 76,089 in 2010, according to the U.S...
. Characteristically he shoots his subjects close in, often using a wide-angle lens and flash, frequently cropping the subjects' heads from the frame, concentrating on small details and moments.
Cohen has described his method as 'intrusive'. "They're not easy pictures. But I guess that's why they're mine."
Discussing his influences with Thomas Southall in 2004 he cites ". . . so many photographers who followed Cartier-Bresson
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French photographer considered to be the father of modern photojournalism. He was an early adopter of 35 mm format, and the master of candid photography...
, like Frank
Robert Frank
Robert Frank , born in Zürich, Switzerland, is an important figure in American photography and film. His most notable work, the 1958 photobook titled The Americans, was influential, and earned Frank comparisons to a modern-day de Tocqueville for his fresh and skeptical outsider's view of American...
, Koudelka
Josef Koudelka
Josef Koudelka is a Czech photographer.-Biography:Josef Koudelka was born in 1938 in Boskovice, Moravia, town of about 10,000 inhabitants. He began photographing his family and the surroundings with a 6 x 6 Bakelite camera...
, Winogrand
Garry Winogrand
Garry Winogrand was a street photographer known for his portrayal of America in the mid-20th century. John Szarkowski called him the central photographer of his generation....
, Friedlander
Lee Friedlander
Lee Friedlander is an American photographer and artist. In the 1960s and 70s, working primarily with 35mm cameras and black and white film, Friedlander evolved an influential and often imitated visual language of urban "social landscape," with many of the photographs including fragments of...
." He also recognises the influence of Diane Arbus
Diane Arbus
Diane Arbus March 14, 1923 – July 26, 1971) was an American photographer and writer noted for black-and-white square photographs of "deviant and marginal people or of people whose normality seems ugly or surreal." A friend said that Arbus said that she was "afraid.....
. Whilst acknowledging these influences he says: "I knew about art photography...Then I did these outside the context of any other photographer."
Books by Cohen
- Mark Cohen, Photographer: A Monograph. 1980. 38 pp. OCLC 14157788.
- Mark Cohen: October 10 – December 13, 1981. Washington, DC: Corcoran Gallery of Art, 1981. 24 pp. OCLC 8793002.
- Images: A Photographic Essay of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Avoca, PA: Economic Development Council of Northeastern Pennsylvania, 1982. 58 pp. OCLC 40750751.
- Five Minutes in Mexico: Photographs. [Wilkes-Barre, PA]: The [Sordoni Art] Gallery, 1989. ISBN 094294500X. 71 pp.
- Grim Street. New York: powerHouse, 2005. ISBN 1-57687-230-0.
- True Color. New York: powerHouse, 2007. ISBN 1-57687-372-2.
Selected exhibitions
- 'Photographs by Mark Cohen' Museum of Modern ArtMuseum of Modern ArtThe Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
[MoMA Exh. #1027, March 19-July 8, 1973]
- 'Mark Cohen: Strange Evidence' Philadelphia Museum of ArtPhiladelphia Museum of ArtThe Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest art museums in the United States. It is located at the west end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. The Museum was established in 1876 in conjunction with the Centennial Exposition of the same year...
Permanent collections
- Whitney Museum of American ArtWhitney Museum of American ArtThe Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
- Metropolitan Museum of ArtMetropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
- George Eastman HouseGeorge Eastman HouseThe George Eastman House is the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in Rochester, New York, USA. World-renowned for its photograph and motion picture archives, the museum is also a leader in film preservation and...