THE D∇RK DRE∇M

image by Mark Cohen 1985 fearful mom

Anne Wilkes Tucker: I love what you say about creating your own intrusion, because that is also antithetical to Cartier-Bresson-Iet’s just stay with him for the moment-in that he was adamant about being invisible. You can’t be invisible working as you do with a wide-angle, which forces you to get so close, or working with a flash.

Mark Cohen: It’s true. Once you use a flash, you’re bringing a lot of attention to the event, especially in twilight, but even in the sunlight. A flash is an invasive, aggressive kind of assault. There is one picture in the book of a guy in a car window, a distorted, heavyish sort of guy with his fist in the window. His car is stopped at a light and I just walked by and took this flash-picture. I used a flash because I knew it would be sharp and clear. And I could just walk right by him, go into the store, and disappear. Then I developed the film and saw the image, which I now refer to as face and fist in car.

Anne Wilkes Tucker: You use descriptive captions? MC: Yes. So my pictures are not like Cartier-Bresson, although he was a tremendous influence. It took me a while to think, “It’s okay to take flash pictures.” Then I figured out a technique where I work inside this very short zone with a small flash.

Anne Wilkes Tucker: And you’re unapologetic about the intrusion.

image by Mark Cohen 1972 girls flinching and hiding faces

Taking photographs of people is almost always an act of aggression.

You take a picture, sometimes even without asking.

You shoot a picture, and use it for your purposes. In a way this is an act of robbery.

Though I am photographing people for a long time now, I never had, and still don’t have a clear conscience doing that.

It is a simple fact, that most of the people don’t like to be confronted with their image. We never look as beautiful, as young, and as intelligent as we would want to appear.

While being photographed, we clench our teeth, form them to a grin, it’s supposed to be a smile, but it’s nothing but putting on a further layer, it’s nothing but enforcing our mask.

Nobody wants to be shown being tired, sad and used up.

Indeed we only accept photographs of us in an idealized form.

Media are full of beautiful people. Actually they don’t exist in the form they are presented to us, but we take them for real, we compare us to them, always ending up with a depressing result.

Most of the portraits I have published up until now were photographs taken of people I didn’t know. Chance meetings, never taking up much time.

If asked, I am explaining them, that the best images I will put up in exhibitions.

That’s sort of offering a lie while telling the truth. Exhibitions are out of the horizon of the people I meet. I am not discussing the results with them.

In Ravensburg I had a long-term scholarships, resulting in an exhibition. A small city, and the people I photographed all came to the opening. They seemed to be proud to have become prominent members of the community.

I am trying to turn these photographic chance meetings into an agreeable event. I am actually a friendly person. I notice people. I emphasize with them.

Emmy Hennings, sitzend [Emmy Hennings, sitting ; Emmy Hennings, assise], 1917-1918, 9 x 12 cm 

Zeiramu (1991)

Rue de rivoli Paris 1930s

Studio’s of the masters 

Japanese soldier beheads man in the street during The Rape of Nanking 1937

Shanghai citizens at a government bank to exchange paper money for gold as People’s Army approaches the Nationalist Capital of Nanking during the last days of the Kuomintang, 1948.