Beautiful book, beautifully produced about sacred places
Any one who comes across this book will already know what it's about. And if you know what a morada is, how it's situated between earth and sky, and if you know something about the Hispanos and Nuevomexicanos who created these buildings--then you will already have been blessed. Without the involvement of the Hermanos (listed in the back of the book), this collection of photographs would have been a lesser work. The persistence of the Penitente chapters and the existence of their moradas--in the face of corporate-industrial life which often degrades the soul--is a testament that Hispanos and Hispanas believe in one another. A feature of this book, En Divina Luz, that touches my heart is the text with excerpts from alabados (religious songs) and the paragraphs of memories from unnamed Hermanos. Thankfully, Varjabedian and everyone agreed not to say where these buildings are located: these are sacred places, not tourist attractions for the curious or amusement parks for people seeking entertainment.
The black and white photos are as good as anything from Laura Gilpin and Eliot Porter in their work in the same area of New Mexico. Photograph #18 "Moonrise over morada, dusk" is as good as Ansel Adams's "Moonrise, Hernandez" (1941) but for different reasons; I don't want to set up false analogies or comparisons, but Adams caught the village Hernandez just before World War 2 began a period of destruction, and Varjabedian's moonrise over the morada showed this particular place before the vandalism of September 1992.
Each of these photos is like a devotional item, an object for meditation or prayer. Photograph #57 "Morada after snowstorm, dusk, winter" and #17 "Calvario in snow" are so beautiful--so soothing!--on a July day of 90 degrees. My heart and intellect meet in aesthetic heaven when I look at #9 "Morada and low-lying clouds," #36 "Morada with separate Penitente chapel" and #40 and #45 and others; these photos show how the Brothers--way back in the 19th-century--located their places of worship in specific spots where hills and trees and meadows meet ways which raise the soul. Truly the photographer had to set up his camera where the lines of the hills magnified the lines of the morada. And he had to wait for the light in which to snap the shutter: He writes, "The light was becoming my teacher." But the photographer must also be unrelenting in his or her search for excellence; he must have within him that which is open to perceiving what can be seen only with the 6th sense.
An extremely beautiful book on a mysterious subject.
I am a landscape photograper, like Mr. Varjabedian is, but not as good. His photographs are some of the best I have ever seen in my entire life, even better than Ansel Adams. This book is about "Los Hermanos Penitentes," or the Penitent Brothers, a Catholic lay brotherhood that was founded because of a lack of preists in New Mexico. The Brother's activities have always been very secret, but have been aggrandized by the early white settlers in the region. Mr. Wallis' text illuminates and fully explains this unusual brotherhood. I highly, highly reccomend this book to anyone interested in the history of New Mexico or, anyone who appreciates fine black and white photographs.
