MARSHA GUGGENHEIM is a San Francisco fine art photographer. Her passion is storytelling, exploring in-camera techniques to create images that reimagine the past and inspire the present.
Over the past five years, Marsha has been recognized for her award-winning series, Without a Map. This series of images are recreated from her memories using old family photos, making new images representing her childhood and turning the camera on herself.
Other bodies of work include: Facing Forward, a series that documents the lives of formerly homeless mothers; With This Ring, an album of candid pictures from the daily weddings at San Francisco’s City Hall; 65 Miles Per Hour, a series shaped from remembrances of Marsha’s father; and a number of additional series exploring unexpected moments through street photography and portraiture.
Marsha is represented by Corden Potts Gallery, is a Critical Mass Finalist and is included in numerous private collections both domestically and internationally. She has shown her work in over fifty exhibitions. Recent exhibits include a solo show at The Griffin Museum of Photography in Massachusetts, an exhibition at the Harvey Milk Photography Center in San Francisco, a winning Storytelling Series at Photonostrum in Barcelona and as an exhibitor in the DeYoung Open 2023.
Her work has been featured in The Washington Post, Black & White Magazine, All About Photo Magazine, Fraction Magazine, F-Stop Photography Magazine, Art Doc Magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle and Lenscratch.
SOLO AND MAJOR EXHIBITIONS
2025
The Harvey Milk Photography Center, “Conversations: Women Photographers of the Bay
Area,” San Francisco, CA
The Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, “Our Mother’’s Ourselves,” Milwaukee, WI
2024
Fotonostrum Gallery, 20th Julia Margaret Cameron Exhibition, Award Winner for Storytelling Series, Barcelona, ES
Center for Photographic Art, 2024 member’s Juried Exhibitiion, Carmel CA
Gray Loft Gallery, Pretty in Pink, Oakland, CA
2023
*The Griffin Museum of Photography, Without a Map (Solo Exhibition), Winchester, MA
The Harvey Milk Photography Center, Our Mother’s Legacy, San Francisco, CA
DeYoung Fine Arts Museum, Open 2023, San Francisco, CA
Los Angeles Center for Photography, Project Exhibition (Third Place), Los Angeles, CA,
Photoplace Gallery, Capturing the Light, Middlebury, VT
Center For Photographic Art, 2023 Member’s Juried Exhibition, Carmel, CA
Center for Fine Art Photography, Revisiting the Family Album: Stories that Bind Us, Ft. Collins, CO
*SOLO EXHIBITION
2022
A Smith Gallery, She, Johnson City, TX
Southeast Center for Photography, Light, Greenville, SC
The Center for Photographic Art, 2022 Members Juried Exhibition (Honorable Mention), Carmel, CA
Griffin Museum of Photography, Once Upon a Time (Honorable Mention), Winchester, MA.
Gray Loft Gallery, 10th Anniversary Exhibition, Oakland, CA
The Center for Fine Art Photography, 30 Over 50, Ft. Collins, CO,
Soho Photo Gallery, 2022 National Competition, Manhattan, NY
University of California San Francisco, 26th Annual Art for AIDS, San Francisco, CA
The Griffin Museum of Photography, 28th Annual Members’ Juried Show, Winchester, MA
2021
The Center for Photographic Arts, 2021 International Exhibition, Carmel, CA
Susan Spiritus Gallery, The Journey (Honorable Mention), Irvine, CA,
Gray Loft Gallery, Yellow, Oakland, CA
University of California San Francisco, 25th Annual Art for AIDS, featured photographer, Art Talk Series, San Francisco, CA
L.A. Photo Curator, Childhood, Past Present & Future, Los Angeles, CA
Center for Photographic Art, Members’ Juried Exhibition, Monterey, CA
2020
Griffin Museum of Photography, Winter Solstice Exhibition, Winchester, MA
Claghom Gallery, Thriving in Place, Oakland, CA
Gray Loft Gallery, The Meaning of Green, Oakland, CA
University of California San Francisco, 24th Annual Art for AIDS, San Francisco, CA
Center For Photographic Arts, 2020 Members’ Juried Exhibition, Carmel, CA
A Smith Gallery, Structure, (Honorable Mention), Johnson City, TX
Praxis Gallery, Empty Places: Abandoned Spaces, Minneapolis, MN
2019
A Smith Gallery, Red, Johnson City, TX
The New York Center For Photographic Art, Color Green (First and Second Place), NYC, NY
The New York Center For Photographic Art, Secondary Colors (Second Place), NYC, NY
SFMOMA Artist Gallery, Fall Selections from our Program, San Francisco, CA
University of California San Francisco, 23rd Annual ART for AIDS, San Francisco, CA
Trieste Photo Days, Short Street Stories (book and exhibition), Trieste, IT
Harvey Milk Photo Center, Photography + Art, San Francisco, CA
Gray Loft Gallery, Something Blue, Oakland, CA
L'Oeil De La Photographie, Your Valentine’s Day Pictures
Lenscratch, Kiss Exhibition
2018
A Smith Gallery, Street, Johnson City, TX
Don’t Take Pictures, Structure
Ballast Café, West of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Gray Loft Gallery, Seeing Red, Oakland, CA
Harvey Milk Photo Center, Best Photo, San Francisco, CA
L'Oeil De La Photographie, Your Holiday Pictures
University of California San Francisco, 22nd Annual ART for AIDS, San Francisco, CA
2017
Gray Loft Gallery, In the Light, Oakland, CA
Dickerman Prints, Wunderlust, San Francisco, CA
City College Art Gallery, Street Life: SF By Day, SF By Night, San Francisco, CA
University of California San Francisco, 21st Annual ART for AIDS, San Francisco, CA
2016
Keeble and Shuchat Photography Gallery, Botanicals, Palo Alto, CA
New York Center for Photographic Art, Geometry (Honorable Mention), NYC, NY
Rayko Photo Center, Tribute, San Francisco, CA
ARTspan, Open Studio, San Francisco, CA
Sanchez Art Center, Left Coast, Pacifica, CA
New York Center for Photographic Art, Interiors (3rd Place), NYC, NY
Richmond Art Center, Family Portraits, Richmond, CA
The Center for Fine Art Photography, Portraits, Fort Collins, CO
Mullen Bros Imaging, Minimalism, San Francisco, CA
2015
Rayko Photo Center Gallery, Family, San Francisco, CA
The Center for Fine Art Photography, Illuminate, Fort Collins, CO
New York Center for Photographic Art, Urban Landscapes (Honorable Mention), NYC, NY
1650 Gallery, Picturing America, Los Angeles, CA
ARTspan, Open Studio, San Francisco, CA
Darkroom Gallery, Natural Realm, Essex Junction, VT
Photo Place Gallery, Windows, Mirrors and Reflections, Middlebury, VT
Harvey Milk Photo Center, Coastal, San Francisco, CA
Dark Room Gallery, Lines, Essex Junction. Vt
The Image Flow, Group Show, Mill Valley, CA
2014
1650 Gallery, Flower Power, Los Angeles, CA
Rayko Photo Center, Provence: A Photographic Journey, San Francisco, CA
1650 Gallery, Windows & Doors, Los Angeles, CA
Rex Hotel, Room 704, San Francisco, CA
2013
Dickerman Prints, The Americans, San Francisco, CA
Rayko Photo Center, New Visions, San Francisco, CA
2012
*San Francisco Homeless Prenatal Center, Facing Forward (Solo Show), San Francisco, CA
*Solo Exhibition
REPRESENTATION
CORDEN POTTS GALLERY: cordenpottsgallery, San Francisco, CA
AWARDS and HONORS
Winner, Story Telling Series, 20th Julia Margaret Cameron Award, Barcelona, ES, 2024
3rd Place, Project Exhibition, Los Angeles Center for Photography, Los Angeles, CA 2023
Finalist, Critical Mass, Photolucida, Portland, OR, 2022
Honorable Mention, Members’ Juried Exhibition, The Center for Photographic Art, Carmel CA, 2022
Honored, Once Upon a Time, The Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA, 2022
Honorable Mention, The Journey, Susan Spiritus Gallery, Irvine, CA, 2021
Juror’s Honorable Mention, Structure, A Smith Gallery, Johnson City, TX, 2020
First and Second Place, Color Green, The New York Center for Photographic Art, NYC, NY, 2019
Second Place, Secondary Colors, The New York Center for Photographic Art, NYC, NY, 2019
Honorable Mention, Geometry, New York Center For Photographic Art, NYC, NY, 2016
Honorable Mention, Urban Landscapes, New York Center for Photographic Art, NYC, NY, 2015
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS & BOOKS
Black + White Photography (UK), September 2024
Black & White Magazine, 10- page feature, 2023
All About Photo Magazine, Women edition, 2022
The Washington Post, AAP Magazine’s ’23 Women, 2022
Fraction Magazine, 14th Anniversary Issue, 2022
Lenscratch interview by Judy Walgren, 2022
F-Stop Photography Magazine, Home Issue, 2022
What You Will Remember, 2022
Artdoc Photography Magazine, Image and Identity, 2022
F-Stop Photography Magazine in collaboration with dotART, Staying Home Together, 2021
F-Stop Photography Magazine, Self Portraits, 2021
Short Street Stories monograph published by the Cultural Assoc dotART, 2019
F-Stop Photography Magazine, Wonder-Full, 2016
San Francisco Chronicle, Facing Forward, 5-page feature, 2012
Facing Forward, monograph published by Homeless Prenatal Program, 2012
CLIENT & NONPROFIT WORK
Art for AIDS, San Francisco, CA
Docent, Diego Rivera Pan American Unity Mural at San Francisco City College, San Francisco, CA
Bay Area Jewish Healing Center, San Francisco, CA
HairToStay, San Francisco, CA
Homeless Prenatal Program, San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Village, San Francisco, CA
EDUCATION
Mentorship with Susan Burnstine, 2021- present
Mentorship with Mary Daniel Hobson, 2018 - present
San Francisco State University, graduate work in Studio Art and Art History, 2007-2010
University of San Francisco, Bachelor of Public Administration, 1988