I misteri del venerdi santo / Leica M-4

These shots were taken around 1975 or so in Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn. It was still an Italian neighborhood before it became totally gentrified and trendy. The Italian immigrants carried a lot of cultural baggage with them. Their most important one was their  Catholic traditions that bordered on a kind of superstition. Catholicism is still practiced this way was today. Statues along with other so called sacred artifacts create a "angible religion" where these icons become real as they assume a life of their own. The Church, when talking theologically, will disavow these practices but it encourages them and so they become traditions that are very popular with the flock. Of course this creates a vicious circle  and real ambiguities but who cares as long as the Church is filled and the collection plates overflow.

This manifestation, i misteri, or the mysteries of what apparently occurred on that dark Friday are re enacted. What is produced is a timeless drama of a mother in grief. The whole "stabat mater," setting  that created some sublime musical oratori. We see the Madonna, dressed in black, looking for her Son. They meet eventually as the procession is divided into two, one with the Madonna and one with Christ. Here, they use a glass enclosed, bloodied body of Christ kept in the church and a statue of the Madonna. When the Madonna actually finds her Son, it's actually  a touching moment that almost makes one's disbelief cease. What can I say, it does make for great photo opportunities.  Also, it affords local politicians an opportunity to show their concerns and sensitivity. These Ektachrome shots were all shot with the 35mm Summicron F2,  a sublime lens,