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San Isadore is a church in Mesitas, Colorado, on the west side of the San Luis Valley.
It lost its roof and much of everything else that would burn in a fire in the 1970′s.
It is still used for services, under the bright, aluminum sky of southern Colorado.
The fire reduced the building to just its basic walls, the fundamental enclosure of architecture. For all the excitement of Modern architecture blurring the line between inside and outside, it is startling and humbling to see simple walls defining a space. Inside and outside; here, not here.
I spent quite a bit of time there making drawings and photographs. I shot it with three four different cameras as a bit of an experiment on how each of the different technologies record our impressions.
First and fourth images with a Lumix digital camera.
Second and third images with black and white film in a 1970′s Yashicamat.
Fifth image with a 1980′s Nikon FM
Sixth image with the same Yashicamat with color slide film.
Last image with a Holga, black and white film.
Isn’t it interesting how a space can be holy with just four walls? It reminds me of the ruins in Rome. The original intention never seems to leave a spiritual structure even when the roof and floors have disappeared. Thank you for posting.
There’s something about the temporary and fragility of the folding chairs contrasted with the solidity and timelessness of the walls that makes the place so poignant and rich.