My final photography project deals with the perception, and misconceptions of religious sanctuaries and structures. Churches, synagogues, and temples are the common names for religious sites to which people attend. New Mexico is abundant with numerous spiritual dwelling, for anyone to seek out a religion, and become a part of a congregation. Many humans seek to find belonging, hope, love, relish, and redemption for hopes of salvation, and a beautiful eternal afterlife.
My project focuses on the locations of sanctuaries, but not as a whole building. I want the focus to be the main entrances into these holy structures. Whether I find a single door, double doors, or even gates, these objects consecrate these buildings. Doors are objects that can open, close, block, protect, and hide many other ideas and objects behind them. I believe that the doors to many places of worship are unique to the religion, the secrets, and the sanctity of the sites. Some churches have ornate doors, adorned with details that relay information of the religion, others might just be simple glass doors, and even some religions locations lock/block out visitors that do not belong in the congregation.
My concept is for my viewers to stand before these images of doors, look at what is presented in front of them, and question if they want to see what is behind the doors. The idea and actual structure of a door can play on a psyche. We will question what is behind it, how we can obtain a glimpse of what is hidden, and also make us question if we want to enter into what is behind the doors. There are some religions that refuse to let 'outsiders' partake in their ceremonies, practices, or even step foot into their main areas of prayer. Why so secret? It is that secret, that hidden information we seek to find, and it sits inside a confined space hidden by doors. This is a personal testimony to seek out the doors of religion and how open they are to being exposed.
