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Santa Rosa photographer Gina Lopez recently showed "Visions of Fatima," a series of photographs that capture the "otherworldliness" of the Miracle of the Sun. (Photo courtesy Gina Lopez)
Jan. 25, 2020
Nicholas Wolfram Smith
A recent art exhibition by a Santa Rosa-based photographer tried to capture the experience of witnessing Fatima’s Miracle of the Sun.“Visions of Fatima” debuted at Oakland’s Pancakes and Booze Art Show Jan. 19. The series of eight photographs of a statue of Our Lady of Fatima were taken through a light prism, bringing out bright colors and a new perspective from which to see the Blessed Virgin.
“My goal in this project was to artistically depict or interpret what the witnesses saw at the miracle of the sun. I like how the light prism creates a sense of otherworldliness and the unseen,” photographer Gina Lopez said.
Lopez credited Our Lady of Fatima for guiding her work. She had previously experimented with prism photography after seeing it on Instagram. Driving by St. Eugene Cathedral in Santa Rosa one morning when a rainbow was out inspired her to grab her camera and photograph the cathedral's grounds, including the Fatima grotto there.
“When I made these photos it came to me that this is what the witnesses saw, the pilgrims that gathered to see the miracle,” she said.
Lopez said she has carried a camera on her since she was 10 years old. Photography has been a way to “be present in the moment and capture what was happening,” she said.
“What I try to do is capture a feeling for who a person is, and with my “Visions of Fatima” collection I can capture a feeling of who our mother is, that she’s a loving mother, and she is with us,” she said.
A photo from "Visions of Fatima." (Gina Lopez/Urban Pilgrim Photography)During the show visitors were curious and willing to engage the work on a technical and spiritual level, Lopez said. Many who talked to her had some connection to Catholicism -- raised Catholic or given a saint’s medal by their grandparents - and were “really piqued by the spiritual content,” she said.
“We engaged in some real dialogue,” she said.
Lopez said the Marian nature of the work helped create conversational openings as well, because Mary is such a familiar sight. As a child in Los Angeles, she said, “I didn’t grow up Catholic, and I always saw Our Lady of Guadalupe painted on murals everywhere. So at that time in my life, even though I didn’t know who she was, I knew she was there. And I think for a lot of people, that’s how it is. It’s familiar, and people came with an open mind and genuine curiosity where I’m coming from, because it's unique and different to have religious works in a venue like that.”
Having a photographic style and a subject matter so distinct, Lopez said, puts her in a unique position to share the Gospel.
“I’ve done this show before and I understand where people are coming from. I put myself out there, I’ve made friends with people who are outside Christianity, so it’s like me sharing the good news with them in a way that's more approachable or familiar,” she said.Lopez said she hoped her images changed viewers’ hearts or brought them closer to Christ. “The point of art is not just self-expression — it should always draw us to something higher.”
To learn more, visit www.urbanpilgrimphotography.com or https://www.instagram.com/urbanpilgrimphotography/