I use my camera to try to capture the essence of ordinary people, places, and things, to see them with fresh eyes and reveal them in a new way. I am drawn to the smaller towns, rural areas, and byways – the “blue lines” on the old maps – and to quirkiness and eccentricity.
I enjoy photographing people in their own environment – in the woods, in their home or workplace, on city streets, on the farm. These environmental portraits add another dimension to what the face and body can reveal about the inner life of the subject, and the way the subject relates to the world around them. Dia de los muertos was photographed at the festival in Atlanta’s Oakland Cemetery in 2022. The horsewoman proudly displaying photos of her heroes is a rider with the Association of Charros, a Mexican rodeo group based in metro Atlanta. The women ride side-saddle in costume for their performances. The little girl in the wasp nest was photographed at Urban Sprout Farms, an organic vegetable and flower farm on the south side of Atlanta. I return there every year to photograph her as she grows up. I love the juxtaposition of the delicate beauty of the young girl with the wild and lush nature of the farm.
BIO:
Marla Puziss moved to Atlanta from Maryland in 1989 and is still getting to know the South. She lives in Hapeville with her husband and recently retired from the clinical laboratory at Grady Memorial Hospital, where she still works one day a week. She is a self-taught photographer, inspired by looking at great photography since childhood. Her work has appeared online in South x Southeast, Lenscratch, and in various local and statewide juried photography exhibits – including Slow Exposures, Decatur Fine Arts Exhibition, LaGrange Southeast Regional, Arts Clayton Gallery, The Bowen Center for the Arts, South x Southeast Gallery, Atlanta Photography Group, Marietta Cobb Museum of Art, Johns Creek Art Center, Georgia Governor’s Office, and in collection by the City of Decatur, GA.https://www.marlapuzissphotos.
com IG: @mpuziss
