This past weekend while visiting Latrobe, Pennsylvania I had another opportunity to photograph in Saint Vincent’s Basilica. The Basilica is a beautiful Catholic church on the campus of St. Vincent’s College. This page, Saint Vincent Basilica Parish provides a short history and from Wikipedia I gleaned the following:

Saint Vincent Parish was founded in 1790. It was the first Catholic parish in Pennsylvania west of the Allegheny Mountains. Father Theodore Brouwers, O.F.M., purchased 300 acres (121 ha) of land called “Sportsmen’s Hall Tract.” A church was built and dedicated on July 19, 1835. It was named after St. Vincent de Paul because July 19 is his feast day.

The cornerstone of the basilica was laid in 1892, and the consecration took place on August 24, 1905. The basilica was completely restored in 1996, as part of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the college.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Vincent_Archabbey

On Saturday, I photographed in the Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve across from St. Vincent’s College until the morning Mass was over. The nature reserve takes its name from the wife of the famous golfer, Arnold Palmer.

When I finally made it into the church I actually became involved in a Baptism. This caused me to miss my opportunity to photograph in the basement “Crypt”. At the end of the day, I wasn’t as productive as I would like to have been. I didn’t make the images that I had in mind but I had a very interesting time. This happens sometimes and I guess it’s a trade off for a very beautiful surrounding.

Now the Mysterious Bowler Man

As some of you know I recently created a fictious persona. For lack of a better name, thanks to Phil I might add, his name is “Mysterious Bowler Man”. He first appeared in my Route 581 Project photographs made in September of 2012. Since then he has made appearances in Buffalo, NY in the Silo City Grain Elevator Complex. He visitied the Klotz Throwing Mill in Lonaconing, MD. Then recently, in the snow covered mountains above Mount Holly Springs, PA.

Up to this point, the images that I have created with this persona have been very well received. I am very grateful for this acceptance. The thing I wonder about is this, no one who has seen these images has asked me what’s the story? No one has asked what the meaning is or why? I thought that I would be asked this somewhere along the way. I haven’t, and I haven’t really been prepared to answer. Does everyone, or do you, create your own story, fill in the details and arrive at a conclusion on your own? I am curious to know.

Explanation ???

The fact that I didn’t have an explanation has bothered me to some degree. Over the Easter weekend I learned of my acceptance in the ABSENCE Journal. I knew I had to come up with something. The editors allow room for the accepted artists to provide “a short note describing your philosophy of art or life, or both. It can be a reflection on your own creative work of about 75 words or less”. I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to make my first public statement about this persona. 

My eldest daughter, Jess, was home for the holiday. You know, she will soon to be world renowned writer, so I asked her to write me up the meaning of the Mysterious Bowler Man. In her own special way she replied, sorry Dad, you gotta write that one yourself. Uggg! No help for you…cee.

Okay, so I sat down and penned the following:

Mysterious Bowler Man was conceived and created for the Route 581 Project, an outdoor photography exhibition held in September 2012. Since then, he has reappeared at abandoned facilities in three states. Bowler Man provides a human element in an otherwise cold mechanical environment. He serves to remind us that in each of these industries, “people” once toiled. His untimely arrival signifies the end or perhaps a turning point for each of these circumstances.

Before I arrived, and now at the church I debated with myself about the plausibility of Mysterious Bowler Man inside the Basilica. Given  the description above, his appearance in the church doesn’t seem to fit. On this blog are two of the images that I made on Saturday. Both images have the Mysterious Bowler Man. One on “Approach” and one in the “Sanctuary”. I know the story and the process are constantly changing, evolving, but what do you think?

ABSENCE 2013 – Volume 15 | Silo City Round Two