Fine Art Photography Exhibition by Madelyn Carr Bonnett
“… buy Hyacinths to feed thy Soul.”
An eclectic collection of photographic series grouped by subject, scene or style
Work on display in the Grande Hall Corridor Gallery 3/14/2022-6/23/2022
Artist Statement
This exhibition really isn’t about hyacinths or about trees or seas, or birds or sunsets, although
these and other beautiful creations comprise it. It’s about my quest to appreciate beauty
wherever I find it and about how essential that quest is to my very being. It’s about truly noticing
and observing the sights and scenes we see — yet often don’t see — in our beautiful, natural
world.
Viewing the natural world through Christian eyes allows me to focus on the miraculous, amazing
and indescribable sites, scenes and wonders that make up our universe — trying to never take
them for granted, letting them touch my mind and feed my soul. Capturing and sharing images
of the Lord’s astonishing creations, and occasionally an exceptional manmade creation as well,
is my passion.
Photographing the beauty of a moment, a subject, a scene, and sometimes finding a way to
present it in a new light, is my way of honoring that beauty. And I simply must do it. As depicted
so perfectly in the lines below from one of my favorite poems, capturing beauty through
photography is the hyacinth that feeds my soul.
“If of thy mortal goods thou art bereft, and from thy slender store two loaves alone
to thee are left, sell one, and with the dole — buy Hyacinths to feed thy Soul.”
— the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
About the artist
Madelyn has been a serious amateur nature and fine art photographer for 30+ years. She founded MadArtz Photo in 2004 and offers her original works as photo prints and canvases, note cards and wall calendars. A life-long lover of God’s natural world, Madelyn, through her photography seeks to share the truth that He alone is the Creator of the earth and all its beauty. Viewing the natural world through Christian eyes allows her to notice and capture the truly miraculous sights and scenes all around us every day. Sharing her images of the Lord’s amazing creations is her passion. Her favorite subjects are flora, fauna, forests, national parks, skies and other natural wonders, but she literally sees a picture in everything.
Rarely without a camera in hand, she shoots exclusively with natural light and often uses Intentional Camera Movement (ICM) and other techniques to achieve photo-impressionist and abstract effects. Her genres also include representational, landscape, still life and black and white photography. Madelyn’s images have placed in local, state, regional, national and international awards competitions, and she continually adds new exhibitions to her schedule. In her first competition in 2005 she won Grand Prize in the Scenic Category of the Ritz/Wolf Camera International Photo Contest. Recent awards include Best in Show-Photography in the 67th Annual Birmingham Rose Show, Juror Award in Johnson Center for the Arts “Challenge 14” Juried Photo Contest, 3rd Place in Comer Museum and Arts Center’s Annual Photography Contest and Honorable Mention in the Gadsden Museum of Art (GMA) Annual FOCUS Juried Photo Exhibit. Since 2019 her solo exhibit “… buy Hyacinths to feed thy Soul” has toured central Alabama with stops at Tuscaloosa’s Cultural Arts Gallery, Montevallo’s Parnell Memorial Library Gallery, Sylacauga’s Comer Museum and Arts Center, the Gadsden Museum of Art and, beginning March 14, 2022, at the Shelby County Arts Center. The exhibit is a 30-image subset of her full eclectic collection of photo series, presented as gallery-wrapped canvases and featuring many works created using her signature Intentional Camera Movement technique.
Selections of Madelyn’s work are available at Blue Phrog Art Gallery in Montevallo, Wallace-Burke Fine Jewelry and Art Gallery in Homewood, The Farm Company in Columbiana and through MadArtz Photo directly. Her “Alabama Photo Album” calendars are sold annually in these and other central Alabama galleries/retail outlets. She lives with Don, her husband of 48 years, on wooded property outside Columbiana.
