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I first noticed these small but hardly innocuous shrines in 1975, during my second extended sojourn in Rome. My photographic commitment at that point was to work in hardened B/W and to document the various Roman families with whom I was making contact. But my fascination with these small altars moved me to begin to record them with honest color-transparency film. They reminded me a bit of Joseph Cornell’s boxlike sculptures, though these were specifically religious and Catholic in nature. This was, of course, Rome, the seat of Catholicism by the Vatican’s presence so prominently noticed along the Tevere River, and felt strongly in daily life here. Devotion. That certainly is the arousal and practice these shrines serve. The Madonnas and various icons of Jesus were presented in unique and often comical ways. The city of Naples became an even greater source of discovery, and finally Sicily offered its own folksy designs and markings. I could not resist them, and would obtain the aid of a hefty iron ladder if available, to greet them at their own level. I was tired of making exaggerated trapezoid shapes coming from ground level. Their placement over a local mechanic’s garage, or juxtaposed between a trattoria and a shoemaker’s shop, were a great curiosity for me. I came to understand that each neighborhood possessed its own shrine, or several variations. A daily offering could be made in seeking a blessing of protection on the ordinary day’s journey. Upon return home, a prayer of thanks would likely be made passing the shrine, with ever-refreshed flowers and clean linens. Since my first glimpses and recordings of these shrines so long ago, I have continued the photographic practice to the present. On occasion, I would return to a previous site to assess a potential makeover, if any. Some received the care of devoted maintenance; others seemed to age like the cities themselves. I continue to be drawn to these amazing sculptures, and respond now with a faster format. Though the shrines comprise a portion of my Italian works, the attraction is constant and my inventory continues to grow.
MOUNT HOPE