MARY ELLEN MARK - Ward 81

The Image Centre showcases Mary Ellen Mark's unflinching and compassionate photographs of women living in a psychiatric facility

Ward 81—an early series by one of America’s most distinguished and respected photographers—sheds light on the invisible lives of women institutionalized for mental illness.

Mary Ellen Mark, [Tommie peeking out of room window, Ward 81, Oregon State Hospital, Salem, Oregon, USA], 1976, gelatin silver print © Mary Ellen Mark, courtesy of The Mary Ellen Mark Foundation/Howard Greenberg Gallery

American documentary photographer Mary Ellen Mark (1940–2015) transported her viewers to places rarely seen, from the brothels and circuses of India to the streets of Seattle. Her humanistic approach and long-term commitment to her subjects were legendary. This winter, visitors to The Image Centre (IMC) at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) are invited to experience life in the women's ward of the Oregon State Hospital, the state's only locked, high security psychiatric facility at the time.

On view from January 25 through April 1, 2023, Mary Ellen Mark: Ward 81 presents photographs, audio recordings and archival materials—many of which are being shown for the first time—to offer an in-depth view of Mark’s experimental and groundbreaking approach to documentary photography.

Mary Ellen Mark, [Mary Iris dancing, Ward 81, Oregon State Hospital, Salem, Oregon, USA], 1976, gelatin silver print © Mary Ellen Mark, courtesy of The Mary Ellen Mark Foundation/Howard Greenberg Gallery

“Mary Ellen Mark’s willingness to immerse herself in her subjects’ lives and to show them empathy, care and dedication allowed her to create extraordinary portraits that were also candid and relatable,” says IMC Exhibition Curator, Gaëlle Morel.

“We’ve brought together Mark’s Ward 81 photographs, striking black-and-white images with an almost cinematic quality, with many of the ‘behind-the-scenes’ materials that offer a fuller picture of the project.”

Mark first met several of the female residents of Ward 81 in 1975 while photographing on the set of the movie, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest at Oregon State Hospital. After nearly a year of correspondence with the institution, as well as the patients and their families, Mark and her collaborator, licensed therapist and writer Karen Folger Jacobs, moved into the women’s ward for 36 days in 1976. They were given unprecedented access. The resulting project—published as the seminal book Ward 81 in 1978—was a nuanced and compelling portrayal of female psychiatric treatment in the United States.

Mary Ellen Mark, [Beth in "time out," Ward 81, Oregon State Hospital, Salem, Oregon, USA], 1976, gelatin silver print © Mary Ellen Mark, courtesy of The Mary Ellen Mark Foundation/Howard Greenberg Gallery

While much of Mark’s 50-year career was spent photographing people on the fringes of mainstream society—th