Today I went to a large bookstore. Being tight, I looked at the bargain clearance section I saw a white jacketed, oversized, picture book. The book was called “Cross“.
My spiritual ears pricked up
The book was put together by Kelly Klien, a fashion photographer and editor. It has about 160 pictures and the inside flap claims, “This is the first book ever to distil the icon of the cross to its pure aesthetic essence, to explore it’s universal beauty.”
Can you do that?
The pictures are striking. (With a list of top-notch photographers it should be.) But does it distil the icon of the cross to its pure aesthetic essence?
Yes.
It does. The heart is ripped out of it. The pictures seem cold at points. Shock is main weapon of several of the photographers.
No.
About 120 pictures in a picture of Frank Sinatra captured me. Black and white. He looks in his 30’s casually dressed, conscious of being photographed. Effortless, looking apologetic, as he stands arms outstretched in a cross, one thick boot on another.
Does the cross ever have a universal beauty?
Yeah.
But I think that comes with the baggage of its icon status.
Follow us on twitter