Hickory Grove Window

Stained glass windows have been a feature of churches since the Middle Ages when they were used to help a largely illiterate society understand teachings from the Bible. The beautiful windows also encouraged people into a contemplative state of mind suitable for worship. 

As the sun moved across the sky, colors from the window danced through the interior of the church turning it into a giant kaleidoscope. Lit from within at night, the windows served as a beacon and source of comfort to the surrounding population.

Another effect of stained glass windows is the ability to inspire a congregation. I have certainly felt that effect from the stained glass windows in  the Hickory Grove Church northeast of Kellog, Iowa. This is another church that I visit frequently and largely because of its windows. Each time I can find new and different compositions in the glass that I have yet to grow tired of.

 

 Pieta Chapel

"Window Outline, Pieta Chapel" is a photograph that almost wasn't. I made this image after first thinking that it was too "out there" for the project. It was made soon after I started to shoot for the project and I was still trying to discover how to convey the presence of these old sacred places.

Capturing that presence is an ongoing struggle. My mentor, George DeWolfe, summed the problem up succinctly, "How do you photograph the invisible?" And while he's helped me come up with a starting place, it's a question worthy of more than one answer. 

Pieta Chapel is behind the St. Donatus Catholic Church, between Dubuque and Bellevue, Iowa. The chapel sits on the top of a ridge behind the church. The path up to the chapel threads past an Outdoor Way of the Cross and, fittingly enough, through a sheep pasture.