An Easter Photography Story:

Back in 2019 I was the Chief Information Officer and a member of the transition team (also occasionally called the Pheonix Team) at Saint Joseph’s College of Indiana.

Saint Joe (or SJC) had closed in the spring of 2017, due to an impending exhaustion of funds. However a small group of staff were retained post closure to settle debts, maintain the campus, perform some light administrative work, and explore ways to reopen in some capacity. As chance would have it, I was asked to stay.

Remaining onboard as a senior leader at SJC meant wearing many hats, so in addition to my CIO and administrative duties, I also performed some of the public relations, as well as maintained all the social networking accounts and websites.

This meant periodic posts to share news and maintain a connection with the community.

A couple of days before Easter 2019 (Wednesday I think), Our VP of Academic Affairs, Dr. Ryan, surprised me with the question of whether I intended to post anything on the SJC Facebook page on Easter Sunday.

While I had planned on doing something, for holidays of a spiritual significance I had generally been pulling from our vast library of images from when SJC was open and using those as the framework for a heartfelt post.

Dr. Ryan suggested I consider something a bit more original and current. And perhaps inspiring.

So… Thursday morning I brought along my camera and tripod to see if I could get some kind of shot on Campus that was both current and inspiring. And while the 129 year old Campus, even closed, usually provided a wealth of imagery, that day out it was much more challenging as it was overcast, raining, cold (about 40 I think, felt colder) and still early enough in the year that a lot of yard debris (branches, leaves, etc…) was still lying around.

And brown, dead, and closed really wasn’t the vibe I believed that Dr. Ryan wanted on a day of rebirth and hope.

Even so, I was beginning to think of calling it quits. But the feeling remained that if I just keep exploring, I would find what I was looking for.

So I wandered around (and got pretty wet). Eventually finding my way to the Grotto just as it started raining, I entered the cave to keep from getting even more soaked.

I’ve always liked the cave and the statue of Christ it holds, especially when the sunlight is coming down from above. It’s truly one of the most special places on Campus. However this day everything was wet, no sunlight was shining down, and with winter just having passed (and it having snowed just a week or so before) the grotto cave clearly wasn’t having its best day.

So, I started to clean up a bit, and over the next few hours had cleared out the winter’s accumulation of leaves, dirt, and various bits of debris that can find its way into small sheltered spaces.

And as I worked the area, I became convinced that this was really the shot I wanted to take. But with everything wet and no sunlight coming from the skylight, it still felt a bit lifeless and downbeat.

Needing to dry off, take a break, and ponder things some more, I took a quick trip to Walmart to look for some color and life, where I found a small selection of “clearance” purple and yellow tulips.

I bought them all and headed back.

After arranging things, it did begin to feel like something special was coming together, but lighting was still a challenge.

Realizing I had some emergency lighting in my car (one heavy duty LED flashlight and two LED emergency roadside markers) I went and grabbed them all. The flashlight was placed behind the statue, pointing back towards the cave wall and the two markers were used to spotlight the tulips.

I took about a dozen shots in all, but the best photo came completely by accident (as they usually do) when the rain broke for just a couple of minutes and I did get just the right amount of light through the skylight to light Christ’s face. It was the only frame that came out that way.

The shot you see here is that one out of a dozen.

(original quote that went with the Saint Joseph’s College Facebook Post on Easter Sunday 2019)

“What about me? Do I have a heart open to God’s surprises? Am I able to go quickly, or do I always hang back and excuse myself until tomorrow.”

- Pope Francis

As all of us here at Saint Joseph’s look to the future, Easter is our strongest reminder that resurrection and renewal is the bedrock upon which our faith is built. And it’s how we respond to God’s surprises today that help us determine the outcome of our tomorrows.

May your Easter be one of joyous surprises and a continued hope for new tomorrows.

- Saint Joseph’s College

Last, for more information about Saint Joseph’s College of Indiana and its last days as a 4-year Liberal Arts Institution, Dr. Jon Nichols has a well-written novel about his experiences as a faculty member during the days the SJC board voted to suspend operations and some of the history leading up to its closure:

amazon.com/Requiem-College-Jon…

For those who are of the faith, may your Easter be a joyous occasion.

April 18th, 2019 –{Tech in the comments}

#Photography #Images #ReligiousPhotography #ReligiousImages #Easter