Monday, August 17, 2015

Images Not Made By Hand

Yesterday's feast of the Icon Not Made By Hands remembers when King Abgar of Syria was suffering from leprosy and asked for an image of Jesus, the sight of whom would be enough to heal. Christ wiped his face on a towel and sent it with his retained image to the ruler, and he was healed; many more were healed by the image for years afterward.

Coincidentally, I also realized that I posted almost fifty photos yesterday. It got me wondering: What is a photograph but a surface that is open and receptive to the forms before it? Aren't they also images written not by hand but by light? While not miracles, I do hope that my "images-not-made-by-hands" can be not only beautiful but maybe even a bit salvific or healing.

Happy Feast Day to my many photographer and filmmaker friends!