I met Martha during her visit to Cranbrook Academy of Art Master of Photography Program under Carl Toth. She became a good friend and was responsible for giving me one of my first teaching positions at Temple University. She will be remembered as a pure spirit, for her incredible body of work and the legions of great photographers she influenced.
“My work is a direct experience of light and the fragility of life through the seasons,” Madigan once wrote. “Nature is a great teacher. Nature always reminds me of the fullness and vitality of life as well as the death and decay that dwell within every living thing.’’
Below is a review of the many remembrances written for her.
Martha Madigan (born August 17, 1950 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; died August 22, 2022 in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania) was a pioneering American photographic artist, educator, and professor emerita whose innovative work and teaching shaped generations of photographers and artists.
Madigan’s lifelong artistic journey began in her youth, when she built her first pinhole camera and developed an early fascination with light, nature, and image-making. She earned a B.S. in Art Education from the University of Wisconsin–Madison (1972) and an M.F.A. in Studio Art and Photography from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1978).
She became known as a true innovator in “camera-less” photography, especially large-format photograms and cyanotypes—works created by placing objects or subjects directly on light-sensitive paper and exposing them to sunlight, producing unique silhouettes and tonal effects. One of her large cyanotypes from the Falls Bridge series is held in the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s permanent collection. Her work spans solar photograms, experimental processes, traditional photography, and conceptual bodies of work that explore nature, the human figure, time, and the sacred presence in life.
Madigan also gained early recognition for self-portraiture long before the term “selfie” entered popular vocabulary, notably using large Hasselblad and Mamiya cameras for her “Daily Portrait” project—a deeply personal documentation of daily family life.
In 1979 she joined Temple University’s Tyler School of Art and Architecture in Philadelphia, where she spent more than four decades as a professor, program director, and mentor. Her teaching, known for its intellectual rigor balanced with personal warmth, earned deep respect from colleagues and students alike. She also taught and lectured internationally, including at Temple University Rome.
Madigan’s artworks have been exhibited widely and are represented in major museum collections including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), Art Institute of Chicago, Milwaukee Art Museum, and many others. She received numerous honors, grants, and fellowships, including a Leeway Foundation Grant for Excellence in Photography (1996) and a solo exhibition at the Haggerty Art Museum (Milwaukee).
Her creative life was deeply informed by nature, spirituality, and contemplative practices, and she identified as a feminist and passionate advocate for her students and community.
