PILGRIM IMAGES IN ART

Ancient Paths
Ireland

The heavens and the earth provide us, from time to time, reminders of our finiteness, that our lives are a small space on an endless spectrum of history. Especially is this true as one traces the steps of the Celtic saints, whose living, vibrant faith still speaks in the granite ruins that have withstood the centuries of war and weather.

We see in these rugged holy places that we owe far more than we can know to the great men and women of the past. We are profoundly stirred with the call to live, in these days of constant motion and frenzied activity, in such a way that something of an enduring, time-tested, eternal worth is left as an inheritance for the future generations; that we will not have forgotten what it is to be still, and to commune with the Maker of heaven and earth, to know His voice in the winds, and on the waves, to know His fragrance in the freshness of cool grasses and the mists of early morning. For these are the quiet ancient paths that have all but disappeared in the clamor and press, and if we turn aside for even a few moments, do not our hearts so strongly sense the whisper of their call!

WE WELCOME YOU TO PILGRIM IMAGES IN ART

David Fitzpatrick as pastor, speaker, author, and life coach, has dedicated much of his life to the pursuit of meaning, purpose, and understanding. He is a long time Franklin resident whose work has incorporated extensive travel. It was in 1995, during a year-long stay in Saint Petersburg, Russia, with his wife and three children that he began to capture in black and white images some of these simple expressions of the spirit.

They are gathered from such diverse places as the ruins of churches in Ireland, the cemetery of Tchaikovsky in St. Petersburg, an abandoned synagogue in Moldova, Christ Church in Jerusalem, as well as the statuary of Prague and Vienna. Since then he has expanded his black and white portfolio to include scenes of serenity from the wilderness of Cape Breton and vignettes of light and color from mornings in the gardens of Lindisfarne, the Fitzpatrick family home created as a spiritual sanctuary.

In the intention of the photographer, the force of Pilgrim Images is not only in the deep meaning of the photograph, but also in the depth of the beholder that is given expression through these scenes. These images serve to stir the deep worth within the soul, and call us upward.