This photograph was taken from behind the high altar at The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City. At the time I was the chair of the Board of Advisors for the Episcopal New Yorker and able to roam around “backstage” during cathedral events. Looking up at the billowing incense I saw the material world evaporating, as if in smoke and fire. So it must have seemed to those on the Day of Pentecost whose world was being altered. I was ordained a few years later at the cathedral, and this photo reminds me of that event, my own Pentecost, as it were. This was a difficult picture to print and required some darkroom dodging, particularly in the lower third to bring out detail while holding the figures in the smoke of the upper third. One of my business partners at the time, Peg Callahan (an excellent photographer), helped me solve some of the printing problems.

I do not take or print many photographs. Primarily a writer, I turn to the camera every now and then as the spirit moves me. In this case, the spirit literally was moving.

Community: St Mary’s Episcopal Church, Manhattan
Email: ken@ken-arnold.com