By: Liz Linssen on September 11, 2014
The Sacred Gaze: Religious Visual Culture in Theory and Practice This past year, my father asked me to give him “a picture of God.” As someone who hasn’t shadowed the door of a church for around three decades, I was pleasantly surprised to hear his request. However, I was more surprised that he assumed I…
By: Deve Persad on September 11, 2014
I ordered new glasses. It’s not really news worthy, as the lens prescription hasn’t changed and the new frames will likely have little difference from the old ones. By my calculations, this is the fifteenth time that I’ve ordered a new pair of glasses. I’ve averaged a new pair every two years for the last…
By: John Woodward on September 11, 2014
Last spring, I traveled to Porcupine, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Reservation to work with my Lakota friends. On this trip, I had the opportunity to visit a Catholic school where I wandered the halls till I came across a display case that held several icons of Jesus and Mary. Enjoying sacred art, I…
By: Mary Pandiani on September 10, 2014
Two thoughts come to mind in reading Pink’s book, Doing Visual Ethnography: First, her work parallels the movement of the modern world to the post-modern world by articulating the argument that anthropologists have had over the years of how to make the best observation of culture: scientific-realist vs. reflexive. In an exploratory manner, she gently opens…
By: Nick Martineau on September 10, 2014
A good picture can tell a story but according to Sarah Pink so can a bad picture. It’s not about the picture that is taken but the approach to representing knowledge. I found Doing Visual Ethnography by Sarah Pink to be way more interesting then I initially thought. I love different cultures so the study…
By: Dave Young on September 10, 2014
I think I did visual ethnography—or at least a homespun version of it—but I just didn’t know it. When I was a teenager I spent four summers with a group called Teen Missions International (TMI). TMI sends teams of teenagers around the world on mission projects; some of those projects are primarily construction while others are…
By: Phillip Struckmeyer on September 10, 2014
Painfully Reading about Visual Ethnography Before reading Sarah Pink’s book, Doing Visual Ethnography, I would have to admit, I had never heard specifically of ethnography. Anthropology, yes. Cultural studies, yes. Sociology, yes. But ethnography, not so much. So first, I found this book to be helpful in opening my eyes to a new field, or…
By: Jon Spellman on September 10, 2014
I’m reflecting on the arrival of my first batch of books for this semester. That happy little brown box with the smiley symbol emblazoned across the front always brings me joy when it arrives and in this case, the joy was a little more pronounced than usual. It was also accompanied by another sensation I…
By: Miriam Mendez on September 7, 2014
I can remember as a child being told to “pay attention.” I don’t know about the rest of you but for most children it was not the easiest thing to do. And now, as an adult, I still believe that it is not the easiest thing to do. I would offer that paying attention or…
By: Carol McLaughlin on September 5, 2014
As I write I can lift my head slightly, glance over the top of my laptop to see before me images of significance, invitation, and embrace. Over time they have contributed and added to my faith. As I began to read Visual Faith: Art, Theology and Worship in Dialogue by William A. Dyrness I stopped…
By: dminlgp on September 5, 2014
It seemed more enticing to think through Dryness’ book Visual Faith: Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue Engaging Culture with the help of a heading from a proverb in Nigeria’ Chinua Achebe’s famous novel “Things Fall Apart”. When visual art is expressed in all its human forms, people are presented with an opportunity for…
By: Telile Fikru Badecha on September 5, 2014
Visual Faith: Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue Engaging Visual Faith: Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue Engaging Recently I attended a leadership training conference where I watched someone do a side artwork during the preaching of the word ( see the picture above). This was my first cross-cultural experience of this type, and I…
By: rhbaker275 on September 5, 2014
Several years ago I read The Rise of the Image, The Fall of the Word by Mitchell Stephens. I was at the time becoming aware of the toxic reality around me; the erosion of my value system and the unexplainable disconnect that seemed to be taking place between the church/faith I loved and…
By: Bill Dobrenen on September 5, 2014
My mother died this week. It happened suddenly and peacefully. Her cancer, which had spread from the lungs to the bones to the spine, finally won the battle. The passing was a difficult time for my father. He was mom’s caretaker for the past ten years as she had succumbed to alcohol-induced dementia a decade…
By: Travis Biglow on September 5, 2014
Good evening to everyone. I just want to give you heads up. I just got in from work and went to copy and paste and my Micro soft word would not open. So I am going to wing it tonight. I also did not get my book from Rowntree so I will be will be…
By: Julie Dodge on September 5, 2014
“…churches often appear imaginatively empty.”[i] Such a statement breaks my heart. As Christians, we worship God the Creator of everything that ever was and ever will be. We worship the God who his greater than our imaginations and broader than we can understand. He is without limit. His creativity is without end. God, who created…
By: Stefania Tarasut on September 5, 2014
I bought my first icon this year. It took me about thirty minutes to decide if buying this icon was a sin. It’s funny, but when you grow up with Orthodoxy in the background and the Protestant voice labeling icons as idol worship, you can’t help but pause and question what you’re about to do.…
By: Richard Volzke on September 5, 2014
William Dyrness’s book, Visual Faith: Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue[1], provides historical context to how art and Christianity have impacted one another over time. The early Catholic Church (before the Reformation) incorporated elaborate art and architecture into their places of worship and services. It was used to draw people into the worship experience. During…
By: Clint Baldwin on September 5, 2014
“It is possible that we might win the battle of words, but lose the battle of images. And losing that battle could well cost us this generation.”[1] I think Dyrness offers a vital point with this statement in noting that modes/methods that worked in the past will not necessarily work in the present. However, with…
By: John Woodward on September 4, 2014
Every time I travel to Europe, I take time to visit churches (which, amazingly, are kept open and accessible rather then locked-up like in the United States). Most of the churches I visit are Catholic or Orthodox, which provide s tsunami of sensory stimulation, from sight to smell, from sound to feel. Rich in images…
