A former painter and graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Fine Arts, I studied photography with Harold Feinstein. My work focuses on people in their environment and portraits, with the longest series, started in 1978, on gender variance in the US, Cuba, and Burma and Thailand.

My photographs are in many private and public collections, such as the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, The Brooklyn Museum, The Nion McEvoy Foundation, The Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. The photographs have been exhibited extensively, in solo and group shows. My life’s work is being archived at Duke University. Mariette's work is in numerous collections, both private and public. Mariette is the author of four books of photography.