By Lookout Staff

April 6, 2012 -- An exhibit showcasing the work of pioneering Santa Monica College photography teacher Marissa López-Donatt will open at the college's Photography Gallery this month.

"My Daughter Sarahi" by Marissa López-Donatt.

“Reflections Within: The Soul Speaks,” an exhibit of dramatic portraits by the internationally recognized photographer, will run from April 16 to May 4.

Much of López-Donatt's work is in portraiture, but she also creates commercial, fashion editorial, dance and landscape photography, exhibit organizers said.

The exhibit, the photographer said, "expresses a form of exploration of human beauty within the soul" and includes a mix of recent work and some past images.

“Creating not only pictures but pieces of art with imagination, telling a story vividly and passionately, that is what I love,” said López-Donatt, an SMC alumna and an adjunct photography professor at the college.

“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 added.

López-Donatt fell in love with photography in 1987 when she was asked to photograph friends in the fields of dance and music. She has been teaching photography for the Hispanic community since 1994.

López-Donatt -- who has won several Accolade Awards from the WPPI and is currently working on a book of her work -- is the daughter of Ernesto Lopez, the famous Hanna-Barbera Director of Animation and creator of Pancho Pantera from Chocomil and many other Mexican animated characters

The Santa Monica College Photography Gallery is located on the second floor of Drescher Hall on the main SMC campus, 1900 Pico Boulevard. The opening reception is from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, April 21.