A Photo-ethnographic Study of Personal Spiritual Altars & Shrines
In 1993 I attended the 100-year anniversary Parliament for the World’s Religions in Chicago. The thing that amazed me about the conference was the diversity of spiritual practices that were flourishing around the world. My views about what was possible with religion and spirituality broadened because I was able to witness, first hand the sacred objects, costumes, and rituals that people performed as part of their practices. Even the expressions of devotion people had for their spiritual paths seemed different than my experience of any mainstream religions. The variety of distinct religious groups was more expansive and diverse than I had ever imagined.
In the years since, I have wanted to explore more deeply the unique aspects of the spiritual practices that I encountered at the parliament (along with others that I have encountered since). In 2016 I started to document individuals with their personal spiritual altars. I used my materials from the Parliament to find spiritual groups and individuals that would be open to being photographed with their altars or shrines. Specifically, I intend to document the spiritual/ontological relationships between people and their personal altars.
These images focus on intimate connections people have with places and objects that serve as focal points, where subjects feel strong links with transcendent beings, ethereal energies, and/or supernatural realities. Through devotion, presence, and attention, practitioner’s altar objects become infused with one’s spiritual/life energy.
The people and altars in this project represent a diverse range of individual spiritual belief systems, both within and outside mainstream religions. I have already begun to network through spiritual communities to find subjects that are willing to be documented. The images are intimate representations, based on the idea that there are as many unique representations of spiritual expression as there are people.
The subjects I collaborate with are a combination of artists, actors, and spiritual practitioners who want to give voice to and celebrate their own distinct views as part of a multitude of spiritual beliefs. They are believers in a supernatural meta-ecology, or structure of subtle dimensions that co-exist with our reality (TR, 2016) comprised of various beings (or forces). Part of this view recognizes altars to be microcosms and/or nexuses of those subtle dimensions from which practitioners express their sense of devotion and gain spiritual nourishment.
In 1993 I attended the 100-year anniversary Parliament for the World’s Religions in Chicago. The thing that amazed me about the conference was the diversity of spiritual practices that were flourishing around the world. My views about what was possible with religion and spirituality broadened because I was able to witness, first hand the sacred objects, costumes, and rituals that people performed as part of their practices. Even the expressions of devotion people had for their spiritual paths seemed different than my experience of any mainstream religions. The variety of distinct religious groups was more expansive and diverse than I had ever imagined.
In the years since, I have wanted to explore more deeply the unique aspects of the spiritual practices that I encountered at the parliament (along with others that I have encountered since). In 2016 I started to document individuals with their personal spiritual altars. I used my materials from the Parliament to find spiritual groups and individuals that would be open to being photographed with their altars or shrines. Specifically, I intend to document the spiritual/ontological relationships between people and their personal altars.
These images focus on intimate connections people have with places and objects that serve as focal points, where subjects feel strong links with transcendent beings, ethereal energies, and/or supernatural realities. Through devotion, presence, and attention, practitioner’s altar objects become infused with one’s spiritual/life energy.
The people and altars in this project represent a diverse range of individual spiritual belief systems, both within and outside mainstream religions. I have already begun to network through spiritual communities to find subjects that are willing to be documented. The images are intimate representations, based on the idea that there are as many unique representations of spiritual expression as there are people.
The subjects I collaborate with are a combination of artists, actors, and spiritual practitioners who want to give voice to and celebrate their own distinct views as part of a multitude of spiritual beliefs. They are believers in a supernatural meta-ecology, or structure of subtle dimensions that co-exist with our reality (TR, 2016) comprised of various beings (or forces). Part of this view recognizes altars to be microcosms and/or nexuses of those subtle dimensions from which practitioners express their sense of devotion and gain spiritual nourishment.