Christian Religious Art in India: Amazing Spiritual Journey
Church of Our Lady of Expectation mural on St. Thomas Mount, Chennai.
I love photographing religious art, particularly as doing so has become part of my own spiritual journey through life. Having traveled to India on five occasions it was great to be able to take photos of Christian artwork in Kolkata and Chennai.
The experience of viewing and photographing Christian religious art offers amazing opportunities for personal transcendence on your own, individual spiritual journey through life. That is what I believe and what I’ve discovered, through experience, while documenting my travels around the world.
I photographed this sublimely beautiful mural at the Church of Our Lady of Expectation on St. Thomas Mount, on the outskirts of Chennai, in Tamil Nadu, India.
I remember being immediately drawn to the figure of Jesus, and the children gathered around him, depicted on the beaten copper mural.
While an interesting piece of religious art, it’s obviously a quite idealized scene.
However, given that’s true for most of the religious art I’ve seen across Christian, Hindu and Buddhist traditions, I wouldn’t consider that to be detrimental to the success of the image.
And I just love the beautifully textured and three dimensional nature of the mural.
Most of all, I love the luminous quality of the artwork.
It’s that sense of light that seems, somehow, to point to the transcendent nature in all things that I find most compelling.
You see, 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.
So, even more than the subject matter or the theme or narrative being explored in this particular artwork, it’s the light and the way it brings the scene to life that I find most compelling.
The photo was post processed in Adobe Lightroom, prior to being brought into Adobe Photoshop for a few final touches and a literal sprinkling of fairy dust.
A Spiritual Journey Through Religious Art
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 limit themselves to photographing artwork from their own religion, I’m happy to take photos of religious artwork from a range of traditions.
That’s because I’m motivated by beauty, and I believe that the practice of creating and viewing beautiful artwork can lead to transcendence.
I’m also genuinely interested in religious traditions outside of those 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.
Beware of fake news my friend, and of fake prophets.
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What Matters Most, Belief Or Experience?
Is belief more important to you, or the way you experience life through your own, unique worldview?
I love religious artwork. I find it a compelling vehicle by which I can sense the transcendental nature within all things.
Scenes depicted in religious artwork are interesting, as is the historical and cultural significance of the religion associated with the artworks 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 don’t 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.
And that can only be a good thing.
If you’d like to know more about the motivations that underpin my own approach to photography, please feel free to check out my Artist Statement.
About To Travel?
Exploring History in the South Park Street Road Cemetery, Kolkata
I made this photo in the South Park Street Cemetery in Kolkata, India. It’s a well-tendered and peaceful Christian cemetery, housing graves of many important military and civic leaders from the days of British rule in India.
Formerly known as the Great Christian Burial Ground, the eight acre South Park Street Cemetery was opened in 1767.
It’s a quiet haven, housing the mortal remains of over 1,600 British men, women and children.
While I loved exploring this expansive cemetery, it wasn’t easy. It was a typically hot and humid day in Kolkata and the light was blindingly bright.
What’s more the surrounding trees cast shadows into my compositions, significantly increasing the dynamic range of the scenes I was trying to photograph.
I learned many years ago that dappled light, while beautiful to behold, ruins most photos.
But in this case, the dappled light works to highlight surfaces and textures throughout the scene, adding luminosity, shape and a greater sense of three dimensional space to the image.
By photographing side on to the scene, I was able to use the light to emphasize important structures within the scene.
I then allowed the shadows to fall where they would, providing shape and imbuing the scene with mood that, I hope, suggests the passing of time at this historically important site.
Christian religious art and parishioners, 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.
This photo was made after a church service at the lovely Church of Our Lady of Expectation, also known as the St. Thomas Mount National Shrine, in Chennai, India.
The mural depicting the Last Supper on the wall outside the church is absolutely beautiful and one of the most beautiful Christian murals I’ve yet photographed.
At one stage photos of statues, temples and murals were as significant in my portfolio as landscape and portrait photos.
In fact, photos 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 to digitize many of my best film based images.
It’s a lot of work, which I’m hoping to complete over the next few years.
I’m here for the long term and, 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 over coming years.
Photographing Cemeteries - Transience, Transition, Transformation
Over three year's in the making this eBook features photographs made on six continents and includes a range of short essays on a wide variety of technical, aesthetic and conceptual ideas.
This title examines the way I photographed each of the sacred sites and how, by answering the creative call, a general documentary approach grew into the crafting of fine art photographs.
This publication is of the highest quality and is underpinned by over 40 years experience in the photography industry. Hundreds of hours, significant travel and a great deal of expense have been invested into this project. It's been a wonderful experience which I'd love to share with you.
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 written, very much, as an artist’s spiritual journey 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 my Photographing Cemeteries eBook to be both information rich and highly inspirational.
Do you have any plans to photograph religious art in your own neck of the woods?
Alternatively, you may have an overseas adventure of your own coming up.
Either way, I hope you’ll find time to photograph some spiritually significant and historically important religious art for yourself.
And I hope you’ve found this post to be both interesting and informative. As always, please feel free to LIKE and SHARE it widely and wildly.
