© 2024 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY · WNPR
WPKT · WRLI-FM · WEDW-FM · Public Files Contact
ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Exploring Prom Night In America

Mary Ellen Mark

It's just a dance, right?

Actually, maybe that's the last thing the prom is. Maybe the photo is even more important, because it freezes you. It's your chance, as high school trickles away, to say "This is who I am. This will be who I was."

We've been looking at prom photos by Mary Ellen Mark, who will be on our show today, and they're striking in the range of emotional states they convey. We see joy, hesitation, confidence, detachment and some flat-out haunted looks.

Perhaps the central fiction of prom is that it happens in a vacuum. The rest of he world sloughs away for a moment of untainted glamor. But it doesn't. All of your life is still right there with you, riding on your back, lifting you up or dragging you down.

Of course, the other thing you're trying to do is make a memory. Do you still have yours? Your prom memory, that is?

Leave your comments below, e-mail colin@wnpr.orgor Tweet us @wnprcolin.

GUESTS:

  • Sloane Crosley - writer and the author, most recently of “Look Alive Out There”. She joins us from NPR’s studio in New York City
  • Mary Ellen Mark - photographer. From 2006 to 2009 she traveled around the country documenting proms with her husband, Martin Bell. The experience is documented in a movie and book called, "Prom"
  • Stuart Eisenberg - lawyer in Philadelphia. He was Mary Ellen Mark’s prom date in 1958

Chion Wolf & Betsy Kaplan contributed to this show, which originally aired on May 10, 2012.

Colin McEnroe is a radio host, newspaper columnist, magazine writer, author, playwright, lecturer, moderator, college instructor and occasional singer. Colin can be reached at colin@ctpublic.org.

Stand up for civility

This news story is funded in large part by Connecticut Public’s Members — listeners, viewers, and readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.

We hope their support inspires you to donate so that we can continue telling stories that inform, educate, and inspire you and your neighbors. As a community-supported public media service, Connecticut Public has relied on donor support for more than 50 years.

Your donation today will allow us to continue this work on your behalf. Give today at any amount and join the 50,000 members who are building a better—and more civil—Connecticut to live, work, and play.

Related Content