Mev's Penetrating Portraits by Marty King

Marty is hosting the Be in Love with Yr Life Spring Writing Class. 

I never saw Mev take a picture, but somehow I am sure that she connected with every child, every woman she photographed. She once told me that she always asked their name, and received permission before she aimed.   I imagine the photo came after the introduction, the getting to know, the sharing, the listening to their story.  Their dignity is there to see.  Even pain is shown as part of the story, not as detached or distant.  They look directly into the camera, but they are seeing beyond it, right into her eyes.  And the intimacy makes her portraits penetrate our lives.  She was there.  She came to their world, shared their experiences, walked along in the streets beside the open sewers.  Ate with them in their homes.  Absorbed the sight and sounds of the favelas.  And they, in turn, welcomed her as one of their own.  She was.

Quinzinharia; Santo Domingos, Brazil; 1989