Christian Religious Art in India
Mural at Our Lady Of Expectation Church on St. Thomas Mount, Chennai.
I love photographing religious artwork. I’d say that I’m drawn, pretty much equally, to stained glass windows in a Christian church as I am to a Buddhist statue or mandala.
Hindu temples have their own, very powerful allure. Often adorned with vibrant colors and featuring graphic imagery Hindu temples offer fantastic opportunities for creative photography.
While some people might choose to photograph artwork from places of worship associated with their own religious tradition, I’m happy to photograph in any of those environments.
That’s because I’m motivated by beauty and I believe that creating and viewing beautiful artwork can lead to transcendence.
I’m also interested in traditions outside of the world in which I grew up.
I want to live in an inclusive and pluralist society and I believe that education is the solution to so much of the distrust and tension in our world.
Needless to say fake news is designed to amplify whatever bias we may already have and cause us to form opinions without a particularly comprehensive understanding of the issue at hand.
Create Great Beauty When You Paint With Light
The photo at the top of this post features a lovely mural at Our Lady Of Expectation church on St. Thomas Mount on the outskirts of Chennai in India.
While the story being explored in this particular artwork is interesting it’s the elements of composition (e.g., color, shape, texture) within the work and the luminosity contained that attracts my attention.
It’s that sense of light that seems, somehow, to point to the transcendent nature in all things that I find most compelling.
To be able to make great photos it’s important to understand what our medium of expression is all about.
The word photography comes to us from Ancient Greek.
Photo translates as light
Graphy translates as writing, drawing or painting
Photos are, therefore, vehicles by which we use light to document our world and to explore the mysteries that exist on the edge of our understanding.
What Matters Most, Belief Or Experience?
Let me state that again. The scenes depicted are interesting, as is the historical and cultural significance of the religion associated with the artwork in question.
But it’s the transforming and transcendental nature of the light that brings me as close to religious observance as I’m likely to get these days.
My point is that you do not have to be religious to be spiritual. As the saying goes
“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience;
We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”
Each of us has to find our own way through this life.
The fact that we may feel the need to explore, challenge and even move away from the belief system determined for us by our family and the society we grew up in may be a necessary part of our own personal journey.
I’m not recommending that path. I’m simply recognizing that it’s what some folk feel they need to do.
Where we end up is what matters most. And many of us end our journey not all that far from where we started, albeit with more clarity and purpose.
If you’d like to know more about the motivations that underpin my own approach to photography feel free to check out my Artist Statement.
About To Travel?
My Search For The Beautiful On Saint Thomas Mount
The photo at the top of this post is, quite obviously, an idealized scene of Jesus surrounded by young children.
The artwork is on a large bronze sheet on one of the walls of the St. Thomas Mount National Shrine on the outskirts of Chennai in India.
I was immediately drawn to its luminous quality and could see, in my mind’s eye, that I could emphasize the shapes and textures within the scene by rendering the photo into black and white.
The photos in this post were processed in Adobe Lightroom and then brought into Adobe Photoshop for a few final touches and a literal sprinkling of fairy dust.
Crowd watching the night sky at St. Thomas Mount National Shrine, Chennai.
How The Photos We Make Can Change Over Time
Over the years I’ve photographed a great deal of religious artwork, most of it in Asia. Up until recent years photos of statues, temples and murals were as significant in my portfolio as landscape and portraiture.
In fact photographs of religious artwork largely underpinned my Masters in Art (photography) which I completed in the mid 90’s.
As so much of that early work was film based I can only add it to this site a little at a time. I have a huge project ahead of me during 2020 to digitize many of my best film based images.
In addition to lots of new photography projects you can expect to see film based images from as far back as the early 90’s appearing on this site, from time to time, over coming years.
Introducing My Photographing Cemeteries eBook
To see much of my most recent religious artwork, in context, you should check out my Photographing Cemeteries eBook.
This eBook features cemeteries on five continents and includes a range of technical and opinion based essays that explore the process behind the project.
It’s very much the artist’s journey written to help you find your own creative path in life. Whether you’re interested in cemeteries or not, the essays in this eBook are compelling.
I’m sure you’ll find it both information rich and highly inspirational.
