"The painting of black and white photos allows me to make an even greater impression of what I have captured on film and discover new details to highlight for the viewer. Color film alone does not adequately depict what I see and feel – handcoloring adds detail and can change the entire mood – day can become night, cloudy skies can become sunny days, even seasons can change. The colors are from my imagination, I don't take a color photograph and try to duplicate the scene. I often include a bit of whimsy in the handcolored scene, not always readily apparent, but something that can be discovered with scrutiny."

Photographic subjects are from her travels to Norway, Denmark, France, Mexico, the American Southwest and Colorado and are all shot with 35mm Nikon F4s or 2 1/4 Rolleiflex cameras. The darkroom work is all hers as well with the images being printed on fiberbase paper.

Mary creates her artistic vision directly on the black and white fiberbase paper photographs coloring them with photo oils and colored pencils. Colors can be smooth and seamless or textured with the brushstrokes in oil. Sometimes highlights are added with gemstones to the photograph. All coloring is by hand, no computers are used, making each an original artwork.

An active lifelong photographer and darkroom technician, Mary has been handcoloring photos for over 19 years. She is also a former (for almost 20 years) ski resort newspaper and magazine owner with her husband, Miles F. Porter IV. A ten-year survivor of a very rare cancer, pseudomyxoma peritonei, Mary enjoys life with her family through her art and its delightful rewards.