Ecclesiastic
I cannot walk past a parish church or a cathedral without going in and being absorbed by history of the building, marvelling at the craftsmanship and understanding how many generations of people had been in this place and what the place has witnessed throughout the ages.
I went to boarding school from the age of seven. I went to chapel every day and twice on Sunday, that’s a lot of chapel over 10 years! I would drift off during sermons and visualise the imagery in various hymns and psalms. For instance:
‘We hung our harps nearby, there on the willow trees. There in Babylon, those who captured us told us to sing. Our enemies told us to entertain them’. (Psalm 137 v 2)
All Things Bright & Beautiful by Cecil Frances Alexander was written while she was staying in Dunster Castle, not far from my school.
‘Rock of Ages cleft for me let me hide myself within thee’ by Augustus Toplady who, riding through Chedder Gorge, took shelter during a fierce storm. I could create pictures in my mind’s eye!
I like the ritual, the performance, the language and the singing of the church. It was natural for me to want to photograph the people who have dedicated their lives to their calling.
The Most Reverend and Rt. Honourable Rowan Williams, then Archbishop of Canterbury, in the Martyrdom at Canterbury Cathedral
The Most Reverend and Rt. Honourable Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, in the Chapel of Lambeth Palace
The Boy Bishop of Wells Cathedral on the Chapter House Steps
Sir John Hall, then the Dean of Westminster, at the Edward the Confessor Shrine in Westminster Abbey
Canon Ann Clarke, Preacher at Charterhouse
The Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle, Dean of Westminster, in the pulpit at Westminster Abbey
The Right Reverend Christopher Hill, Clerk of the Closet and Bishop of Guildford in the chapel of St James Palace
The Mother General of the Tyburn Nuns. The convent is on the site where 105 Catholics were martyred during the English Reformation
The Very Reverend David Ison, then Dean of St Paul's. He is wearing the Churchill cope made for Sir Winston Churchill's funeral in 1965
Buddist Monk in a monestary in central China