2011‑2022, and is preserved here for archival purposes.
Chris Rowe's profound image serves as a visual backdrop to poet Liana Esau's reflections on prayer, death, listening, and love.
I
This morning my eyes are deeplocked
on a whiteout sky. Prayer leaks like water
from my cupped hands—I hope
not to be afraid.
This morning God is obvious
the snow is falling soft
ov...
Stillness, water, and the power to make all things new as encapsulated in Steven Schroeder's stunning capture.
"He leads me by still waters..." At days' end, Steven Schroeder's photograph reminds us of the representational power of water in healing, in stillness, in reflection. As the sunset reflects off of the bow of Schroeder's canoe and the still as glass water, ...
In the midst of noise: calm. In the midst of frenzy: space. In the midst of ambition and movement and work: rest.
In the midst of noise: calm. In the midst of frenzy: space. In the midst of ambition and movement and work: rest. In the tangled web of pressure and comparison: the invitation to just be and the reminder that our value is not found in our doing. In nature a...
The importance of breaking bread is common to almost every faith tradition. Can we see the sacred in the midst of the table?
Brooke Lark's photograph of the table reminds us that one of the most powerful and sacred spaces is the very table at which we gather together. The table challenges and invites us to come together, to connect in the spirit of the Last Supper...
A sense of mid-day movement shifts the perspective of worshippers heavenwards.
Photographer Vinny Ciro’s wide view from the rear of this church at mid-day creates a sense of movement up the aisle as the closest pews shift in our peripheral vision and we are directed inexorably forward to the altar and upward toward the shadowed wooden...
Shadow, mystery, illumination, and communion are encapsulated in photographer Sasin Tipchai's capture.
Light, essence of holiness and mystery, nudges our eyes from the illuminated pillars to the shy crook of the first boy’s arm, past the vivid reds of his robes and those of the middle boy, to the broader, taller third boy who appears in Sasin Tipchai’s photo...
It has been said that we are never more ourselves than when we are deep in prayer. Tusita Studio provides the viewer of a glimpse of this deeply human moment of divine intercession.
Skilled use of shallow depth of field in this Tusita Studio image brings immediate attention to the deep concentration on the face of the young nun, letting us follow the line of her nose to the downturn of her mouth so that we can imagine the flow of breat...
Bathed in afternoon light, this capture of a softly lit synagogue moves the viewer towards a sense of unity as found in arches created with a spirit of holy intention.
The strong line of the wood with its illuminated edge starting in the bottom right corner divides this Shpeizer photograph of a softly lit synagogue almost into two images. Light spilling across the image from the side window directs our attention to the c...
The world as seen from the literal perspective of the holy book.
“Vanity, vanity, all is vanity and a breath of wind,” the Teacher says in the Book of Ecclesiastes. In Stephen Radford’s photograph of this English church, no breath disturbs the pages of the Bible or its red ribbon page markers. The candles are extinguishe...
Questions of movement, journey, and destination are all evoked in Alejandro Gonzalez's photograph of a highway curving into the distance.
Forest. Path. Mountain. Light. Alejandro Gonzalez's photograph of a highway curving into the distance near Valdes Alaska brings together the four essential elements of spiritual journey. The road at the centre challenges us to move from the limitations of t...
Examine the role of reflection, silence, prayer and place in Joshua Jackson’s photograph of a young man caught at an instant of quiet.
Ambiguity inspires curiosity in Joshua Jackson’s photograph of a young man caught at an instant of reflection. The setting is a London museum but the stone pillars, the wooden crosses, the ethereal light, the dark arch at the end of what looks like a nave ...
How shall we then see through a glass darkly? Where is the holy in the shadow?
“For now we see through a glass, darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then shall I know, even as also I am known.” St. Paul’s words from 1 Corinthians find embodiment in this Igor Ovsyannykov chiaroscuro image of a figure hunched on a benc...
Join us in being prompted to a sense of awe in the possibility for intimacy that solitude holds as inspired by David Marcu’s photograph of a single human being atop an outcropping in a Romanian forest.
At the opening of Creation, God decrees it is not good that man should be alone. Yet David Marcu’s photograph of a single human being atop an outcropping in a Romanian forest reminds us that solitude and loneliness are very different states. The celestial l...
Photographer Conor Sweetman prompts the viewer to reflect on Pope John Paul II's Letter to Artists in April of 1999.
Light illuminates shadow. The ancient hall beckons, "Come." The door obscured under the brilliance of light. Photographer Conor Sweetman's frame brings to mind the verse,"In the quiet you will find Me." The beauty of the hall is featured so as to prompt the...
Photographer Conor Sweetman captures a sweep of architectural space created entirely for worship of the divine.
The ceiling sweeps towards the sky, the seats, prepared to hold those come to worship stretch in a sea of anticipation throughout the space. Photographer Conor Sweetman's shot captures the beauty...
Sacred Spaces contributor Conor Sweetman captures yet another shot of sacred stillness as encapsulated in city streets.
Spires reach towards the sky. Street lamps dim. The blur of people. Can the divine be found in the midst of hustle and bustle? Photographer Conor Sweetman captures the essence of sacred space as found on a city street in this shot, his lens tilted towards t...
Photographer Dave Andrews captures a moment of stillness, the meeting of pavement and earth, of man and nature.
The meeting of pavement and earth, we know it well. It evokes the smell of childhood - hot tarmac and sweet earth, the boundary between what gives and has been taken away. Photographer Dave Andrews' shot evokes not only the smell of summer but the sight of ...
Makoto Fujimura: That is a great question, and my next book(s) "Theology of Making" will address this issue! The role of artists are critical in a polarized culture, to allow for deeper inspection of our human experiences. We are homo faber, as well as being a homo sapiens, and that "making" defines our humanity. In some sense, we cannot know (homo sapiens) truly without being makers (homo faber) first.
Convivium: You are an artist who has written and spoken on the role of the arts in both the faith landscape and society at large. I’ve been asked by followers of your work to ask you to answer the following question: “What does it mea...