Light from Light

The idea for this work springs out of my 8 year project photographing the light of Italy in landscape and town. That collection, entitled Italian Light, was exhibited in Italy in the spring of 2010.

Light, for me, is a powerful part of creation and is redolent with theological implications. Light was the first thing created by God (Genesis 1) and He pronounced it "good". God is light (I John 1:5) and light is one of the attributes of God. In both the old and new testaments of the Bible we understand light as being a powerful image.

Light, literally and metaphorically, holds the presence of God mysteriously-it is incarnational. It is God's presence, but it is not God.

Most of the churches in Italy where these photographs were made, were designed for the worship and adoration of God, and included windows through which light would pass freely into the interior. Built in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance when few people could read and there were no mass-produced books.

The stained glass windows, paintings and sculptured forms were the means used to both educate and inspire. Natural light would move through the church interior during the daylight hours illuminating, revealing and emphasizing the forms.

Light bursts through windows, unstoppable and glowing. A diagonal fire of light dances on a wall near ancient columns which call to the unwary visitor to look and see.

An ancient abbey with a light-filled apse, a spare altar covered with white linen watched over by a crucified Christ whose sacramental presence will be gratefully received at Eucharistic celebrations.

A sun-drenched corner of altar steps with a modest palm branch to the right, reminding the viewer of its significance in the Great Story.

And then, rounding a corner near the altar area, a sudden, almost blinding blaze of light, as it may have been in the holy of holies.

The light calls our attention to many details in these sacred spaces and invites us to contemplate what specifically is illuminated, and why.