Sarah Barr at AIB: 2011

Monday, December 5, 2011

Editing in December

I've submitted my final papers to my adviser. Now it's time to prepare for January. I need to sort through close to 500 negatives and decide which 20 to 25 images to bring to residency. Below is the beginning of this process.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Still Lifes

The first five images contain wooden organ toes, parts of a pipe organ. The knobs adjust valves to control the flow of air. The varying sizes and textures of these small vessels remind me of little people or souls now orphaned.

The following image is of my childhood scrapbook. On the left side was an iron-on Phladelphia Eagles football logo, on the right a collection of holy cards.

Next is from my first grade copybook. It seems to be mostly for penmanship and spelling with prayers of gratitude intermingled.

Friday, November 18, 2011

October 17 Visit to Church B

Here are some behind the scenes photos from Church B. The first three are from the basement which was used as a second church when the congregation was larger. There's something about these religious sculptures and paintings amongst the everyday objects of folding chairs and oscillating fans.

Monday, November 7, 2011

October 4 Visit to Church C

Church C is the church I was baptized in. It's an active church in very good condition. I had no access to the crawl space above the church and I don't know if there is a basement. So not too many behind the scenes views here. The altar has many points of interest including a painting of a saint towering over a nearby intersection. There are five alcoves on each side with sculptures of saints on small altars.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

September 26 Visit to Church B

After photographing the desanctified church for months, I wondered if anyone had photographed it in detail before its demise. I have no answer for this but after speaking with my mom, I thought I would photograph some active churches beginning with the church where my mother's grandparents were married. I'll refer to it as Church B. The part of the church the congregation sees is beautiful but the behind-the-scenes views are more interesting. The last image is of the now vacant ambry where holy oils used to be stored in the sacristy. I returned in October to make photos of the attic, basement, and other out of the way places. I'll post those soon.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

More from the September Visit

Here are some more pictures from September 6.

The stairway to the balcony had changed and some strange structure had been built at its base.


© Sarah Barr

Several of the Stations of the Cross surrounds had been removed and placed on the floor as well as the angel heads from the entryway.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Door in the Floor

When I was researching Gordon Matta-Clark for my comparative analysis paper I was inspired by his "building cuts" (above). Great idea. Wish I thought of it. How did he move these chunks of building? Did he use a crane? Where did he store this stuff?

On September 6, I found a view of the church that reminding me of his dizzying photographs looking through holes from the upper floors to the basement. On the way up to the church bell tower, at attic level, there is a door in the floor. We're four stories up. My friend Missy held it open as I leaned over with the camera. Enjoy the view.

These were made with my mentor John's camera; my first time using a medium format camera and working with a square format. I found the square format very liberating. As I moved around the church, I wasn't switching my camera back and forth between portrait and landscape. Here are a couple other images from that day.