Dave Jordano‘s Articles of Faith has some beautiful photography. A book showcasing the work, Articles of Faith: African-American Community Churches in Chicago, was published in April. Jordano‘s latest ongoing project, Prairieland, is also worth a look. The quality of his photographs is remarkable.
My interest lies in documenting these interior spaces that have come to symbolize comfort, hope, and connection for members who have to bear the burden of living in a harsh inner-city environment crippled with prostitution, crime, drugs, gangs, and broken families. Creating the cornerstone for spiritual, moral, and intellectual strength, the simple and basic layout of these sites belies the importance of their existence. Infused within these spaces are deep undercurrents of tradition, history, memory, and the love of self that trace back to when the only form of open expression for blacks in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was through the practice of their faith.
