My work as a consulting historian has taken me to a great number of interesting place, and since the late 1990s I have brought my 4×5 camera with me on most of these site visits. I have long been fascinated with the architecture of religious places, including churches, synagogues, shrines, cemeteries, and more. Even when my work did not involve these buildings and sites, I still frequently stepped away from work for a while to take a photograph or two. In other places, including within Syracuse, NY where I live, I have taken photographs of sacred places with the intent of documentation. I have created a gallery of some of these photographs, all of them taken with a 4×5 camera, which I hope to update on occasion as I find more buildings to record.
My interest in religious architecture pre-dates, and played a role in, my enthusiastic reception into the Catholic Church more than a quarter-century ago. My concern, however, transcends the boundaries of denomination and faith tradition, and is oriented instead toward the universals of beauty, faith, and community. Even for those who haven’t a religious bone in their bodies, sacred places are undeniably important components of local communities, and often express the best that architects had to offer in terms of design. In recognition of this, they are frequently draw the intense interest of advocates for historic preservation and healthy communities. People much more learned and eloquent than I regarding the importance of these buildings and sites to historic preservation, and who are definitely worth following, include the Partners for Sacred Places and the National Trust’s National Fund for Sacred Places.