Untitled 1992

This beautiful black and white photograph was taken by Thomas Roma, though when, I don’t know. What I do know is that the image speaks of a certain time and place. I can imagine him, wandering in and out of churches, looking for an image. What might he have been thinking? Maybe he was trying to see something about family, or about the way the inside of a church seems frozen, somehow outside of time? I like the formal repetition of the carved crosses on the wooden pews in the foreground, framing the sitters. These act as a visual echo of the quiet suffering and reverie that these people seem to be experiencing. The woman, elbow leaning on the pew, and the boy resting behind her. What are they thinking? Painters and photographers are always in conversation with one another, aren’t they? Sharing ideas across time. We all inspire each other’s creativity, capturing these fleeting moments, embracing ambiguity and uncertainty.