‘Women we might have been’: sisters and psychiatric wards – in pictures

Laurie in the Ward 81 Bathtub, Oregon State Hospital, Salem, 1976

Currently on show at CPW in Kingston, New York, is Mary Ellen Mark’s Ward 81. The celebrated American photographer was known for documentary photography and portraiture that captured moments of vulnerability and resilience. Her work often focused on marginalised individuals and communities, including homeless young people, mental-health patients and sex workers. The show runs at CPW, Kingston, New York, until 4 May

Photograph: Mary Ellen Mark/The Mary Ellen Mark Foundation

The Cast of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Posing, Oregon State Hospital, Salem, 1974

In 1975, while photographing on the set of the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Mary Ellen Mark met several women who lived on Ward 81 of the film’s location, the Oregon State Hospital in Salem

Photograph: Mary Ellen Mark/The Mary Ellen Mark Foundation

Mona and Beth in the Shower, Ward 81, Oregon State Hospital, Salem, 1976

One year later, Mark returned to the high-security psychiatric facility with writer and licensed therapist Dr Karen Folger Jacobs to document life on the ward through photographs and recorded interviews. This image inspired the sleeve of Lady Gaga’s Harlequin album

Photograph: Mary Ellen Mark/The Mary Ellen Mark Foundation

Mona, 1976

Jacobs said: ‘They are the women we might have been or one day become’

Photograph: Mary Ellen Mark/The Mary Ellen Mark Foundation

Carol T in the Mirror, 1976

Jacobs and Mark lived in the hospital for 36 days, ultimately producing a nuanced and compelling record of the daily realities of the female patients, including their private thoughts, intimate interactions and intense medical treatments

Photograph: Mary Ellen Mark/The Mary Ellen Mark Foundation

Verla in Her Room, Ward 81, Salem, Oregon, 1976

For the US premiere of this project, CPW brings together never-before-seen prints, contact sheets, archival materials and Moonlight Heaven Black, a short film made by Martin Bell, Mark’s husband

Photograph: Mary Ellen Mark/The Mary Ellen Mark Foundation

Mona with Michael Douglas’s Picture, Ward 81, Salem, Oregon, 1976

It is accompanied by the publication Ward 81: Voices by Mary Ellen Mark and Karen Folger Jacobs, edited by Martin Bell, Julia Bezgin and Meredith Lue. It was published by Steidl in 2023

Photograph: Mary Ellen Mark/The Mary Ellen Mark Foundation

Photograph: Colleen Kenyon

Colleen and Kathleen, Shady, New York, 1979

During the 1970s and 80s, the two photographers were part of the movement of female artists who challenged the photographic establishment with innovative approaches to the medium

Photograph: Colleen Kenyon

Kathleen, Minnewaska, New York, January 1977

Colleen Kenyon was a pioneer in using hand colouring to enhance her portraits of herself and her sister in domestic settings. You can read more about her work here

Photograph: Colleen Kenyon

Colleen and Kathleen, Shady, New York, December, 1979

Beginning in 1981, the two sisters also served as directors of the Center for Photography at Woodstock (now the CPW in Kingston, New York), where they continued to advocate for the advancement of women in the arts and for artists of colour

Photograph: Colleen Kenyon

Colleen and Kathleen, Phoenicia, New York, August, 1978

As CPW’s executive director from 1981 to 2003, Colleen Kenyon grew the fledgling alternative space into an internationally recognised cultural centre. She championed the concerns of women artists, focused the CPW’s mission on contemporary fine art photography and, in 1999, inaugurated Woodstock AIR, a residency program for artists of colour. In 2004, Colleen was the recipient of the inaugural CPW Vision award with her sister Kathleen

Photograph: Colleen Kenyon

Untitled, from the series Sacred Children, 1979-1981

In 1982, Kathleen joined her sister Colleen at CPW as associate director. Kathleen was adept at appropriating gender-specific images of women from the mass media to create ironic photomontages

Photograph: Kathleen Kenyon

Untitled, circa 1995

My Sister, My Self: Photographs by Colleen Kenyon and Kathleen Kenyon is accompanied by a limited edition 180-page hardcover catalogue, published by Wolf and Dahlberg

Photograph: Kathleen Kenyon