Artist Uses Friends, Bar Patrons to Bring Sacred Images to Life

c. 2007 Religion News Service NEW ORLEANS _ It was a fall morning in 2001 and Larry L. Graham, 59, knew he was having a stroke. His left eye was unfocused, his arm numb and his voice garbled. He survived, but was a profoundly changed man, physically and artistically. During his long recovery, Graham, a […]

c. 2007 Religion News Service

NEW ORLEANS _ It was a fall morning in 2001 and Larry L. Graham, 59, knew he was having a stroke. His left eye was unfocused, his arm numb and his voice garbled. He survived, but was a profoundly changed man, physically and artistically.

During his long recovery, Graham, a commercial photographer and son of a commercial photographer, had an epiphany. Instead of the glamorous magazine-style portraits that were his bread and butter, he would create authentic New Testament scenes: the Crucifixion, doubting Thomas, the survival of St. Sebastian _ classic images from his Catholic upbringing.


“One morning I went to early Mass,” Graham recalled recently of his moment of inspiration. “I felt kind of a chill. I was still in doubt that I was even going to live, I was on so many new medicines. … I came home and booked a shoot. … From there it was just an obsession. It took on a life of its own.”

Graham’s “Face of God” collection of photos, with prices ranging between $1,800 and $2,200, were the subject of a recent exhibition here.

With his left side paralyzed, taking any photo was a challenge. Taking carefully controlled multi-model tableaus would require a miracle.

Friends volunteered to be part of Graham’s four-year devotion, posing as the apostles and other saints. He supplemented his cast of regulars with “interesting faces” spotted in French Quarter bars. His star was a teenage Mississippi drama student who sought out Graham for studio head shots, then volunteered to be Christ.

Photo shoots took hours. Graham played Gregorian chants to set the mood and provided sheets of thrift store fabric for simple costumes. Caravaggio inspired the bronze light and chocolate shadows he produced in his studio. No one was paid for his modeling nor was makeup used.

The sessions were solemn. Graham controlled “every breath, every finger and every feather,” he said in his halting Alabama drawl. “The cardinal rule is absolutely no talking.”

Volunteer model Carolyn Krack said she admired Graham’s ability to inspire and comfort his cast during the long shoots.


“He tries to establish a relationship among the people. I don’t quite know how he does that,” she said.

Neighbor-turned-model Lloyd Sensat recalled that St. Sebastian fidgeted during the shoot, requiring a beer or two to remain still. The arrows that seemed to pierce him were suspended from the ceiling with thread.

In time Graham created 50 images. To emphasize the painterly quality of his photos, he had them printed in large scale on canvas. He delivered a portfolio of his photos to New Orleans Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes.

“I really truly believe the Holy Mother guided me,” Graham said during a preview of his exhibit.

Does he notice that the tattoos on the shoulders of one model are anachronistic?

“When I saw this guy, I thought he could have been a Roman slave,” Graham said. “I left the tattoos in on purpose. Who’s to say there weren’t tattoos?”

Does he see the irony in looking for saints in French Quarter bars?

“They were just ordinary human beings,” Graham said. “Caravaggio was famous for going out in the streets (in search of models). I didn’t go to the churches to find these apostles.”


Some of his photos may have an erotic quality _ like the works of the Renaissance masters who inspire him _ but, Graham said, it’s not the focus of his art.

“If some of them are erotic, homoerotic, people are going to think what they think. … I hope people who see this work will view it for the reason I did it.”

Though he did not suggest it, Graham acknowledged that his photos could be seen as a sort of empathetic echo, an eloquent way to interpret his own near death, resurrection and epiphany in terms of faith.

KRE/PH END MacCASH

Editors: To obtain photos from Graham’s exhibit, go to the RNS Web site at https://religionnews.com. On the lower right, click on “photos,” then search by subject or slug.

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