A church is an architect’s vision of the place where the divine and the human meet. Most Christian churches in some way commemorate the events of the life of Jesus Christ who it believes to be a historical person. This show features installations of photographs of churches in modern and minimalistic styles.  Their architects’ understandings of what a church should look like take the emphasis off traditional materials and familiar narratives and instead focus on the human encounter with the divine in a more purely subjective way. These architects often intend to create spaces that produce a sense of self-awareness while in the presence of something larger, often using symbolism in sparing, yet beautiful, ways, as I hope will be seen in the show.  By making dramatic use of space, light and color, these churches present the intriguing idea that God is accessible through experience itself. 

​

The photos are arranged in sequences that show the flow of the space as I experienced it. I don’t intend for them to be a complete representation of what the building is about. Instead, they are just one view of it. I see them as a starting point to explore whatever these architects are intending their users to see.

Terry Duchow
March 2019