photographing the sacred

by  Shaun Lawton  

The unraveling of old traditions happens 
piecemeal over a long period of time.

It's a process no more longed for than the aging 
of skin or the inevitable approach of death.

Our view of history parallels that of a pin hole camera.  
Reducing such a complex organism to one single framed 
shot is not the aim, but the achievement of history. 

What we know of our own lives and time 
is every historian's aim, yet a camera obscura rendering 
is the best one may hope for in this shadow theater of the mind.

The reasons for this reveal many clues that might help us 
not in rendering a more complete depiction of history, 
for that would be impossible, but rather towards an ability 

to infer a proper understanding.

The real difference between our current lives and the total, 
painted picture in which they are embedded in our ongoing planetary 
culture amounts to the historical relation which brought us all about.

The main difference between today and history appears to be  that history lacked ourselves. What they share is that we are part of an ongoing story. 

As historians piece together our history, over many generations a vast and far-arching  drama begins to unfold before them.  Anyone caught up in viewing this tapestry would  naturally want to know what happens next...