Moment: S. Billie Mandle

Saint Michael, from the series Reconciliation. © S. Billie Mandle

By S. Billie Mandle

For 10 years I photographed confessionals around the United States. These rooms absorb the voices of all the people who confess; the marks and scratches on the walls and floors are evidence of past penitents and each person seeks redemption surrounded by traces of past sins. These are spaces haunted by layers of invisible secrets.

Confessionals are intentionally dark and I photographed with only available light and a large format camera. Through the long exposures I represent the confessionals as spaces of contradiction and ambiguity. I was raised Catholic, but as a queer woman my relationship to the church is complex — these photographs are part confession, part reconciliation.

You can view more of her work on her website.