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.

St. John's Lutheran Church

One of the early decisions I made about the Church Project was to shoot it in black and white. Depicting these fine old buildings in black and white tones is the appropriate choice. I think it took me 30 seconds to figure that one out.


But. Color has always been an undeniably important part of church architecture. Many people couldn't read in the Middle Ages, but they could follow the stories illustrated in stained glass windows. For me, personally, stained glass windows always make churches special places.


For those and other reasons, it's likely that there will be a small number of color photographs in the final selection. In any group of photos, the photographer wants to establish a rhythm and flow. My current thinking is I'll use a handful of color photos to help create that in the Church Project.


St. John's Lutheran Church is in the background of this photo. It's just outside St. Donatus, Iowa, which is southeast of Dubuque. The lighting on this evening was dramatic and fast.  It was a matter of slam the brakes, get the camera on the tripod, compose, focus, and shoot. The rainbow faded away soon after I made this photo.

Ghost Town Church

I can be a fickle when it comes to my photographs. I can really like a particular photo for two or three weeks and then I start to like it less and less. Not so with this photo of an abandoned church. It's in a ghost town called Halfa in northern Iowa. It has remained on my list of favorites since I first worked on it. It has good tonality, good composition, and an interesting subject.

This church is obviously abandoned and it poses an important question when I think of it as part of the Church Project. I wanted to show these churches as important parts of their community. In this church's case, the community is no longer there. Should churches no longer in use be included?

No doubt I'll continue to ponder that question. For now Ghost Town Church remains a part of the project. Despite not being cared for, it retains a dignified air that I admire. The people who worshiped here made this church a sacred place. That did not change when they left.

Union Chapel

Union Chapel is one of the first churches I stumbled across at the start of the project. And I mean that literally. I was driving around looking for landscape possibilities when I saw the sign for it.

I've made multiple visits to this church. Being just west of Baxter, it's not that far from Altoona and if the sky is interesting I can usual get there in time to see if I can make a photograph. But the other reason I come back here is because I can't escape the feeling that there's a better photograph to be made. Until then, this shot in the early morning fog will have to do.

Chapel Light

It's been quite a hiatus for the Church Project blog. I finally have my current group of favorites registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. For the rest of 2012 I'll be adding a new image two or three times a month.

Shooting for the project, however, has continued. By the end of 2011 I had logged more than 7,000 miles, visited close to 300 churches, and made over 2,600 exposures.

This blog has two purposes. First, comments from readers will help improve the photos I take in the future. Second, I'm very much hoping that readers will suggest their favorite churches and share stories and memories. I'd like to use these as part of the exhibition I'm working on and -- if I'm lucky -- for the book I'd like to do on this subject.

So please feel free to add your thoughts and comments, positive or negative. Both are valuable.

This window is in the Pieta Chapel behind the St. Donatus Catholic Church in Northeast Iowa. I was drawn by how the light highlighted the different planes of the wall.

St. Paul's Lutheran

The different qualities of light and its impact on a photograph continue to amaze me. I photographed this church -- St. Paul's Lutheran in Boone County -- one afternoon and returned the next morning.

While I like the clouds in the afternoon picture (top), the quality of morning light (bottom) creates a much different image of the church itself. The lack of interest in the sky also centers attention on the church and the direction of the light gives the church some dimension.

A plain, blank sky like the morning shot disturbs me a little, but I may eventually decide that I like the way church stands out against it. I suspect that there will be more early morning visits to this church in the course of the project.

From the start, this project was not meant to be a simple photographic catalog of churches. I'm trying to capture and convey the spirituality that I sense when I visit these buildings. In trying to think of ways to capture such a subjective theme, I thought light would be a critical component. To me, St. Paul's in the morning drives the point home.