She felt God 'smiled' upon her college photo entry

Several years ago my mother won a Minolta camera at a convention and gave it to me as a gift.  I didn’t know a thing about how it worked, so I decided to start at the beginning with a basic black and white photography class at Oakland Community College. 

As the semester progressed, the weekly commitment of time in class and in lab as well as away from my daughter became a burden and I wondered if the whole thing was worth it. 

"Cross in the Woods" at Indian River, Michigan

Our final project was to shoot, develop and mat a series of four photos related by style, content or other means. I chose the theme, “Where does the cross appear in our daily lives”, avoiding obvious places like church.  My four pictures would move from crosses that were highly visible to those that were easily missed.  Would my classmates reject the spiritual subject matter displayed in a secular setting? Would the pictures turn out?

With time at a premium, I raced up north to photograph the largest outdoor cross in the nation at Indian River, Michigan. Puffy clouds cooperated to provide the perfect textured background.  Next I took several shots of my mother’s hands, workers’ hands, lovingly cradling the rosary.  I enlisted my brother’s help, photographing the tattoo on his ankle of a cross within a heart, his own creation... 

(Read the rest at Wtness.org) 

Terry Murray