Marianne Porteners currently works as an ecologist, specialising in botanical research and vegetation survey and mapping. She has been photographing the Australian bush for over 20 years, ever since receiving her first 35 mm camera (an old Practika) from her father, who himself used to lug heavy camera equipment into the Colo River wilderness for photographic sojourns. She has a particular fascination for desert regions, which began with several trips to remote areas of NSW such as Sturt, Mutawintji and Mungo National Parks. Much of her ecological work is based in the far western areas, where she has the opportunity to discover other hidden treasures in the arid landscape. Marianne says of her work,

"I will search for the hidden beauty and character of a place that is seemingly ordinary, mundane or even hostile. One area I return to time and time again is Lake Mungo in south-western NSW, where the eroded dunes and huge dry lakes take on an array of colours and moods. "

Her work has been shown in two exhibitions: 'Light on the Land' at the Du Moulin Gallery, Annandale and 'Aspects of Nature' at the Glasshouse Gallery in the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney.