On Saturday, some of us went to see Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer's Life, 1990-2005 at the Legion of Honor. It was a huge show, with almost two hundred photos, and it was so busy. I was surprised how many people wanted to see art on such a beautiful Saturday.
The photographs spanned all kinds of photography. Family portraits were hung next to images documenting wars which were hung next to celebrity cover shots.
I was in my element. I love looking at art... and everywhere I looked, I saw God in her photographs. There was a pair of photos of Annie's partner Susan Sontag's collections, one of shells, one of stones. A testament to the beauty and variety of creation. She had been to Rwanda in 1994, either during or just after the genocide. There was a picture of bloody hand and foot prints, evidence of the massacre of dozens of children in a school. I saw God weeping, suffering, along with God's children who were tragically murdered. There was a portrait of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis (though without a label, it wouldn't have been identifiable as such) during Demi's first pregnancy. It was the most beautiful testament to the beauty of a partnership that brings a child into the world that I have ever seen in art (okay, I exaggerate, but it was incredible). To me, God was there too.
In art museums, I am notoriously slow. So, though I started with some of the other MBCC folks, by the end, everyone (besides my faithful husband who is used to my museum pace) was long gone.
And I always long to hash out art with other folk...
So... if you have seen this show, either with some of us on Saturday, or on your own... what do you think? Was God present in this artwork? Were their any theological images? It is even possible to read the work that way? Comment... start a discussion. Or just email me... agkkaiser@gmail.com.
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