Marilyn Szabo

I was traditionally trained in photography with a History BA. My photography has explored a variety of diverse subjects including architecture, landscape, and people which cumulate in concise series. I use photography to illustrate themes that represent my emotional states while including specific historical issues and times in history that are relevant to me. “Maria Callas by Szabo”, through large photographs of Callas on stage, depict women ranging in age from adolescence to midlife that are struggling with patriarchal and feminist values in society. I photographed archival and modern video footage of Ms. Callas’ converting to oversized black and white prints with imagined text of what she would be thinking about on stage. Using Callas’ facial images, I presented the various phases of Callas’ personal life as the struggle of women in a patriarchal society for dignity, for recognition of their skills. In 2003 I began curating a collection of black and white images depicting the economic history of Arizona. There are over 375 images in this collection which I continue to curate. In 2014 At Work in Arizona: First 100 Years”, a 160 page book was published. With various grants and commissions – Artist Commission, Phoenix Arts Com, Artist Project Award, portraits of iconic Chicano artists and Artist Commission, Phoenix Arts Commission, Artist Project Award, portraits of the builders of Terminal Four, Sky Harbor Airport was completed. Most recently, with the project, Kachina of Atonement, I have embodied all my interests in landscape, Native American and personal history into these images. The Kachina of Atonement is a mile-long, natural land formation situated near the Little Colorado River, in the Great Basin desert grasslands area of Arizona. I discovered it while flying over northern Arizona, and was immediately fascinated by its visual power —beautiful, but eerie, animal-like and yet sea-like. Creating my own mythology of the site, I perceived the formation as a Kachina, a deified ancestral spirit, according to the Hopi. The power of the Kachina can be good or bad. Over 4 years I have photographed, videoed, and researched the formation. I have been published in Black and White, Focus, and Sun Magazine. My work is represented in many collections throughout the United States. Alligator Juniper, a national literary magazine, awarded me the 2010 National Photography Award and the cover. I received five arts commission awards and has had numerous one person shows.