November 2, 9, 16, 23 & 30
7:30 pm (Eastern Time)

Drawing Light: An Online Course on Photography and Prayer

Instructor: Elise L. Ryan
Five Mondays in November:
November 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30 – Live on Zoom
7:30-9 p.m. ET / 4:30-6 p.m. PT
Cost: $50
Max participants: 15

The connection between photography, prayer and contemplation rests upon a devotion to attention, the revelations of light and shadow, and the relationship between the image-maker and the image. Photography, in practice and in metaphor, can encourage a prayerful posture toward the world and self, and a renewed relationship with the Creator of both. Catholic artists and writers, such as Corita Kent and Thomas Merton, worked with cameras and photographic images as media that encourage depth of vision and revelation of divine truth in the everyday and the ordinary.

Across the five weeks of this course, we’ll pair a foundational aspect of photography with a complementary stage of the Ignatian Examen. Each week, we’ll discuss readings and images based on questions and prompts that will be provided for you in an electronic course packet. Also included in the course packet will be prompts for image making that will offer us the opportunity to reimagine our worlds and reflect upon the imago Dei within through photographic images. Our final week will be a chance to share the photographs and reflections that we’ve made and uncovered during our time together.

All readings, images and the course packet will be provided for you; no knowledge of or extensive experience with photography is necessary. You will need a camera of some sort. Cell phone cameras are quite acceptable and entirely expected! In addition to the time needed to read and view the week’s materials, you’ll want to set aside at least an hour per week for making photos and prayerfully reflecting with them.

Course Schedule

About the Instructor

Week One: Asking God for Light / Learning to See and Writing with Light
Reading: Sr. Joan Chittister, “Thirst for Beauty, Thirst for Soul;” Excerpts from “Beholding Paradise: The Photographs of Thomas Merton” Photos: Sharon Core, “Still Life with Oranges” (2007) and “Strawberries and Ostrich Egg” (2007); Elliott Erwitt, “In Mount Washington District” (1950)
Week Two: Give Thanks / Color and Shape
Reading: Excerpts from Christine Valters Paintner’s “Eyes of the Heart: Photography as a Christian Contemplative Practice” Photos: Corita Kent, selected images; William Eggleston, selected images from his Los Alamos project; Barbara Morgan, “Portrait of Martha Graham”; Lee Friedlander, “Mahalia Jackson, Newport, Rhode Island”
Week Three: Review Your Day / Focus and Framing
Reading: Excerpts from Philip Richter’s “Spirituality in Photography: Taking Pictures with Deeper Vision” Photos: Dorothea Lange, “Greene County, Georgia”; “On The Road to Los Angeles”; “Hand, Indonesian Dancer, Java”; and “Mexican-American”; Lee Friedlander, “Route 9W, New York”
Week Four: Facing Shortcomings / Shadow and Light
Readings: Excerpts from “Beholding Paradise: The Photographs of Thomas Merton” and “Spirituality in Photography” Photos: Ansel Adams, “Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico” (1941) and Sally Mann, “Easter Dress” (1986)
Week Five: Looking Toward the Day to Come / Revealing the Image
Readings: Excerpts from Merton, Valters Paintner and Richter Photo: Class Gallery!
Elise L. Ryan is a teacher and writer and is Teaching Associate Professor Literature at the University of Pittsburgh. With a Ph.D. in English Renaissance literature, she thinks about the connections between the early modern and the contemporary world, teaching courses like Milton to Minecraft, Words & Images, and Making the Book. She also writes cultural criticism, which you can read at Image, The Millions, America magazine and Petrichor magazine.

Questions?

If you have any questions about Drawing Light: Photography and Prayer, email Mike Jordan Laskey at medialab@jesuits.org.

Top photo: “On The Road to Los Angeles” by Dorothea Lange (public domain)

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Contributed by:

Elise L. Ryan

Elise L. Ryan is a teacher and writer and is Teaching Associate Professor Literature at the University of Pittsburgh. With a Ph.D. in English Renaissance literature, she thinks about the connections between the early modern and the contemporary world, teaching courses like Milton to Minecraft, Words & Images, and Making the Book. She also writes cultural criticism, which you can read at Image, The Millions, America magazine and Petrichor magazine.