S. Billie Mandle
S. Billie Mandle
Reconciliation
Hardcover
22,4x28cm
104 pages
Published by Kehrer Verlag
2020
About the Book:
For ten years S. Billie Mandle photographed confessionals throughout the United States. She visited churches in small towns and large cities, creating images that depict the visible – and invisible – traces of people, communities, histories and dogmas. The images speak to the beliefs that define these dark rooms and shape this intimate yet institutional ritual. Photographing from the perspective of the penitent, she used a large format camera and available light, creating images that are more metaphorical than typological. As a queer woman raised Catholic, Mandle has long had a complex relationship to the Church; these photographs are part confession, part reconciliation.
Book review by Dana Stirling |
In her book, S. Billie Mandle documented confessionals throughout the United States, documenting what stands alone when there are no people – the light, the furniture and I think more importantly the silence and the presence.
I personally am Jewish, and therefore have no real understanding or connection to church or the Catholic practices. For me, images are churches are just like images of any other religious institution just as a synagogue or mosque – a place of great value, beauty and unique architecture and history. I always enjoy the esthetics of these places because they are usually built with so much live care and detail that is very different than anything else that is around us – especially in our modern surroundings.
Image by S. Billie Mandle
Image by S. Billie Mandle
However, I know that behind these places there is a lot standing. If it is values, rules, communities and more. There is much to respect, and I think at the same time, also things we can and should criticize. As mentioned in her intro, Mandle has a complex relationship to the church and the Catholic religion as a queer woman. I think there are many people who struggle with the duality of religion and oneself – the things that we should believe or the things that should define us that do not always co-exist in harmony with who we are.
This book doesn’t seem to approach this duality in a harsh way – it almost feels the opposite, like it is trying to re connect to something that was a big part of the artis life, trying to see the beauty in it and more importantly find themselves within this space in their own way – art.
As someone who loves still life, this book makes me tingle – I feel in every image the time spent with the moment, with the specific place, I almost feel like I can see the dust particles floating in the air in the window light. There is such a stillness to the moment, an appreciation for the delicate details that make this space what it is – for better or for worse.
This book, just like its title, deals with Reconciliation. Looking at these spaces as a place of confession and a place of restoration between the artist and what these places mean. I think a big part of what a confessional is, is a place to convey about things you might deem as wrong and it is a place that holds your private and intimate secrets, inner thoughts or even fears. You are vulnerable in this place; you bare it all with the only judgment being from God and not the human next to you – a spiritual experience that is almost a bond between good and bad. This book almost feels like the photographer is in their own confession, but their secret is private, not for us to fully know. The photographs are the documentation of this private moment that we can only glimpse into from outside.
Even if this book targets a specific religion, I think many can relate to it regardless of its specificity. You can enjoy the book for the surface level of its striking still life photography that captures a silent beauty, or you can dig deeper and see this book as an analogy to your own understanding of life, religion, community and much more.
Please consider supporting the artist and book by purchasing it in the link below.
