Marianne-somehow your photos capture the very essence of the person. They tell the viewer what's on the inside of a person, not just the outside. That's how the viewer learns the truth about the beauty of aging. Your images are moving and meaningful. I love your photos-I have from the first one I saw so many years ago.
Connie Goldman
author of The Ageless Spirit and The Gifts of Caregiving

Photos by Marianne Gontarz York illuminate the reality of aging-people and issues. That is why ASA has been celebrating her photos and using them to illustrate our publications since 1983. That was the year that Marianne won the ASA photo contest with her depiction of an intergenerational portrait. Since then, her work has graced covers of Generations and made the case for older people and their families in numerous other ASA publications, brochures and other materials and on our website, for members and the public. Marianne is an acclaimed photographer and a licensed clinical social worker who has worked with older people for more than thirty-five years. It's an unbeatable combination.
Mary Johnson
Editor, Generations, American Society on Aging

Marianne is a social worker who spends her working days listening to older people and helping them get their needs and concerns met. Marianne is an outstanding photographer. Because Marianne is both a social worker and a skilled photographer, she is able to create incredibly realistic and positive photographs of ordinary people who literally jump off the page. I know that her photographs show more than her expertise as a photographer. It is as if those who are being photographed have given her permission to reveal their inner light. Whether her photos capture the energy of dancing or the energy of dying, the beauty of being old is always present.

I am a textbook author and, as soon as I saw her work, I received permission to use several of her photographs for the second edition of my text, Health in the Later Years. In the third edition, we collaborated more and I used as many of her photos as I could. For the fourth edition, I am not using any other photographer but Marianne. My students rave about her photographs. When what I needed wasn't in her portfolio, she went out and photographed it.
Armeda F. Ferrini, Ph..D.,
Health in the Later Years
California State University, Chico

Marianne's skillful eye illuminates the many ways we all grow older; her photos don't just show the faces-they tell the stories. The exhibit of her work at our library was fantastic.
Magaret N. Eccles, Ageline, AARP

Marcel Proust said that "The real voyage of discovery consists in seeing the world with new eyes." Marianne Gontarz York's photographs give us all new eyes with which to see the world of aging. What a wonderful vision she shares with us.
Harry R. Moody, Ph.D
author of Aging: Concepts and Controversies

Marianne, you know I've used your pictures in various editions of my textbook and I am always so happy whenever I see your work (e.g., in GENERATIONS). You are truly an extraordinary photographer!
Mark Novak, Ph.D.
author of Issues in Aging, An Introduction to Gerontology
Associate Vice President and
Dean of International and Extended Studies
San Jose State University

The Institute for Geriatric Social Work at Boston University School of Social Work has utilized Marianne Gontarz York's photographs as part of our national online training program. Her understanding of older adults are apparent in the depth and compassion of her images. "
Kathy Kuhn, MSW, LICSW
Director of Education and
Training Institute for Geriatric Social Work
Boston University School of Social Work