Maria Soto

Maria Soto is a largely self-taught photographer who says the key lesson she learned in community college courses was "composition." She photographs landscapes, architecture, street scenes and historic places, from Yosemite Valley and Bodie Ghost Town to Taormina, Burano and Dubrovnik. She shot black-and-white film and ran her own darkroom for six years before moving to digital, and she also paints in acrylic, watercolor and sumi ink and works in mixed media.

She has exhibited since 2003 at Sacramento galleries including Blue Moon, Doiron, Artisan, Taylor's Art and Soul, was a member of the High Hand Gallery co-op in Loomis for more than four years, and volunteered on the Auburn Art Walk Committee. She now curates gallery shows for the Art League of Lincoln. In 2021 she published "Artful Journeys," a book profiling 13 artists in black-and-white photography. She takes commissions.