Photo by Billy Howard
Marilyn's 40+ year career as a fine art, documentary, & southern photographer
1969 - 1973 Studied Sociology/Psychology as an undergraduate at Millersville University.
1974 Moved away from Philadelphia to Atlanta (Little 5 Points).
1977 - 1979 Studied Fine Arts at Georgia State University.
1979 - 1981 Studied Documentary Photography at the Portfolio Center in Atlanta, GA under Dennis Darling.
1981 - 1983 Hired by Billy Howard to work in the Photo Department at Emory University.
1989 - 1990 Studied Documentary Photography in the graduate program at Georgia State University.
1978 - 1998 Worked as a documentary photographer documenting everything from her Philly suburbs to the southern life across Georgia:
- South Philadelphia Project 1978 - 1998
- The South 1978 - 2005
- Dancing Naked In The Material World 1979 - 1992
- Storefront Churches 1990 - 1993
- Hare Krishna Documentary 1993
- Women In Prison 1994 - 1995
- Olympic Games - Atlanta 1996
- Southern Trinities 1996: The series was installed as a permanent collection at the ATL Airport, Gate E3.
1984 - 2006 Marilyn shot for magazines, annual reports, and nonprofits:
Est. 55 publications, 36 of which included a front cover image:
Atlanta Magazine, Style Magazine, Business to Business, Sky Magazine, Emory Magazine, Insight Magazine, Georgia Advocate Magazine, Georgia Business Magazine, NET Today, GPTV & Radio Preview Magazine, Catalyst Magazine, Arthritis Today Magazine.
Annual Reports & Nonprofts:
American Red Cross, YMCA, United Way, Agnes Scott College, UPS Foundation, Lilly Endowment, Episcopal Charities Foundation, Holy Innocents School, Stewart Center For Hope, Equal Justice Initiative.
2003 Married William Smith and moved from in-town Atlanta to his lake house at Berkeley Lake, GA, just north of Atlanta.
2003 - 2018 Shifted to photographing nature, waterscapes, and fine art. Marilyn developed relationships with numerous art consultants across the country who placed hundreds of her images in hotels, hospitals, and corporate buildings worldwide.
2004 - 2007 Created "Suriani Women": portraiture and custom headshots for women.
2005 Combined self-portraits with X-rays, ultrasounds, CT scans, and images to create a documentation of her aging called Interior Design.
2013 Liquid Emerald was installed in Buckhead Atlanta: A 10-foot by 28-foot water image printed on seven glass panels, each weighing 200 pounds.
2015 Waterway, a three-wall triptych covering 54 linear ft, was installed in the lobby area along with Waterscape images on each floor of the dual high-rise building, One Las Vegas.
Liquid Emerald Installation 2013
2017 Officially retires from Suriani Inc. and travels abroad with her husband and dear friends.
2019 Diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease at Emory Hospital.
2023, February 7, Marilyn is moved to memory care in The Mansions at Sandy Springs.
2024, September 12, Marilyn quietly passed away.