Conjectures of a Guilty Gallery-goer

I could almost start going to church again. Jackie Nickerson's photograph exhibit, "Faith," at Jack Shainman gallery documents Catholic religious orders in Ireland. Although these images were taken over the past two and half years, the church's recent scandals seem far, far away. Priest pedophilia, ordination of women, ban on abortion? Never hoird of 'em. This hermatically sealed world harkens back to a time of Thomas Merton, vows of silence, and deep contemplation. Nickerson's still lives of orderly, empty rooms, and clergy members at work capture the peaceful silence that must echo through those convents and abbeys. The portraiture work, on the other hand, is pretty standard. (Images via Jack Shainman gallery)