I have always had a fascination with churches. The architecture, the silence that looms within those vaulted ceilings evokes in me a stillness. Somehow it is a similar feeling to when I’m filming, and all sense of linear time is lost. As I explored Long Island, I photographed many of the churches and pondered on all the breaths that had passed through their doors over time. My project One Breath has evolved to include the many breaths of past, present and future, alluding to that underlying theme in my work - connection.
Collective breaths are to be heard singing from the many churches here. One I visited again, having first photographed it on a yacht delivery stopover in Clarence town in 1998. With its prominent two towers, and a unique view of the harbor, SS. Peter and Paul Catholic church is a landmark that I remember seeing far out to sea as we approached under sail so many years ago. Not much has changed on this quiet island since then and it remains one of the less ‘touristy’ destinations in the Bahamas.Â
Father Jerome (Right Reverend Monsignor John Cyril Hawes) was an architect and priest who designed and constructed church buildings in England, Western Australia and the Bahamas - including the SS.  Peter and Paul Catholic church in Clarence town, Long Island. He served as a priest in the Church of England before converting to Roman Catholicism and later received ordination as a Catholic priest. After retiring, he lived as a hermit in The Bahamas, becoming known more commonly as Father Jerome. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hawes)
