In 2014 she received a Doctorate in photography from Alto University, her dissertation was entitled 'Translations - Landscape, the face and the presentation of the photograph.'
[2] Her photographic work reflects on the genre of portraiture, challenging its traditional composition to question identity, reality, and authenticity.
Talking about her work, Marjaana Kella has stated "My photographs are kind of studies of perception and experience, or of the interface between people’s external and internal spaces."
The series Reversed (1996–1997) presents unusual portraits of individuals turning away from the camera, represented only by the back of their heads.
The portraits, almost non-gestural, therefore ignore the subject's facial features to create pictorial, and textured compositions renewing the genre's aesthetic.