Internationally recognized photographer Marissa López-Donatt will exhibit a number of dramatic portraits at the Santa Monica College Photography Gallery starting April 16.
The show, called “Reflections Within: The Soul Speaks,” will run through May 4.
As one of the pioneers in teaching photography for the Hispanic community since 1994 at SMC and daughter of Ernesto Lopez, famous Hanna-Barbera Director of Animation and creator of Pancho Pantera from Chocomil and many other Mexican animated characters, López-Donatt found love for photography as a performer in 1987 when she was asked to photograph friends in the fields of dance and music.
Much of her photography revolves around portraiture, but she also creates commercial, fashion editorial, dance and landscape photography.
López-Donatt said this exhibit expressed a form of exploration of human beauty within the soul and included a mix of recent work and some past images.
“One of the images is my daughter,” López-Donatt said. “Most of the images that I have, they portray fashion, portray some editorial look. To me, they are more fine art. They express what I feel and what comes out of my soul and that’s why the title is ‘Expressions Within: The Soul Speaks’ because that’s what I feel with each image.”
She said she loved to create pieces of art with imagination.
“I love to express the beauty of a bride, a businessman, a model, a dancer, an actor and even a mother-to-be or her beautiful baby during birth,” she said.
An SMC alumna, López-Donatt is also an adjunct photography professor at the college and has been teaching photography in Spanish and English at Wedding Portrait Professionals International (WPPI), Samys Camera, and worldwide.
She has won several Accolade Awards from the WPPI and is currently working on a book of her work.
The gallery is located on the second floor of Drescher Hall on the main SMC campus, 1900 Pico Blvd.
The opening reception is from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, April 21.
Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.
For information, call 310.434.4289.
