Culturally there is so much to learn, on my journey through the streets of Gaia, a man sat outside his home, with a mural hanging in honour of his lost and loved one, words could not say what I believe the picture says. “A Picture paints a thousand words”
This is my take on the situation : The image depicts their youth – and the image depicts their faith and the stillness of the moment depicts his loss and obvious love.
To capture this moment driving a car would be impossible, moments pass you by in a flash, whereas walking or riding takes you to the heart of the city and with a camera in my backpack I am always on the look-out for something that catches my eye.
Looking at this picture makes me think, you want your children to be okay without you, you want your children taken care of and equally children want to see their parents and family again. You kind of feel that the fathers and mothers who pass look down from ‘heaven’ at the children ? I am not sure if the cups are significant and whether they empty or full or just serve a purpose of holding the mural ?
There is obvious sensitivity when taking a shot of this nature, as you intrude on the moment. I waited for him to look at me and acknowledge I was about to take the picture and saw no resistance from him for me to shoot the shot. In this instance you cant shoot five or six shots, you have one shot and either make it count or it’s over.
Being a film maker you have frames and seconds and sometimes a hour to tell a story whereas in stills you have one frame to tell a story, this challenge is teaching me so much about my craft and will certainly benefit moving imagery when I next produce or direct.
This journey has had me thinking how little I know, so I am looking at life with fresh eyes, learning what I thought I already knew. History has so many untold stories, – so this led me to to question : what does the Catholic Church stand for? I am not a Catholic, but did get ‘confirmed’ whilst at school, but by the Anglican Church.
The Catholic Church, often referred to as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with approximately 1.3 billion baptised Catholics worldwide as of 2019.[4] As the world’s oldest and largest continuously functioning international institution,[7] it has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilisation.[8] The church consists of 24 particular churches and almost 3,500 dioceses and eparchies around the world. The pope, who is the Bishop of Rome (and whose titles also include Vicar of Jesus Christ and Successor of St. Peter), is the chief pastor of the church,[9] entrusted with the universal Petrine ministry of unity and correction. The church’s administration, the Holy See, is in the Vatican City, a tiny enclave of Rome, of which the pope is head of state.
The core beliefs of Catholicism are found in the Nicene Creed. The Catholic Church teaches that it is the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church founded by Jesus Christ in his Great Commission,[10][11][note 1] that its bishops are the successors of Christ’s apostles, and that the pope is the successor to Saint Peter, upon whom primacy was conferred by Jesus Christ.[14] It maintains that it practises the original Christian faith, reserving infallibility, passed down by sacred tradition.[15] The Latin Church, the twenty-three Eastern Catholic Churches, and institutes such as mendicant orders, enclosed monastic orders and third orders reflect a variety of theological and spiritual emphases in the church.[16][17]
Of its seven sacraments, the Eucharist is the principal one, celebrated liturgically in the Mass.[18] The church teaches that through consecration by a priest, the sacrificial bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ. The Virgin Mary is venerated in the Catholic Church as Mother of God and Queen of Heaven, honoured in dogmas and devotions.[19] Its teaching includes Divine Mercy, sanctification through faith and evangelisation of the Gospel as well as Catholic social teaching, which emphasises voluntary support for the sick, the poor, and the afflicted through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. The Catholic Church operates thousands of Catholic schools, hospitals, and orphanages around the world, and is the largest non-government provider of education and health care in the world.[20] Among its other social services are numerous charitable and humanitarian organisations.
The Catholic Church has influenced Western philosophy, culture, art, music and science. Catholics live all over the world through missions, diaspora, and conversions. Since the 20th century the majority reside in the southern hemisphere, due to secularisation in Europe, and increased persecution in the Middle East. The Catholic Church shared communion with the Eastern Orthodox Church until the East–West Schism in 1054, disputing particularly the authority of the pope. Before the Council of Ephesus in AD 431, the Church of the East also shared in this communion, as did the Oriental Orthodox churchesbefore the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451; all separated primarily over differences in Christology. In the 16th century, the Reformation led to Protestantism also breaking away. From the late 20th century, the Catholic Church has been criticised for its teachings on sexuality, its inability to ordain women, and its handling of sexual abuse cases involving clergy.
The craftsmanship, is a whole new topic, the detail and the beauty and perfection, something that even with all our technology we would battle to equal.
Bruce Mac – from Porto “THE CITY OF ANGELS”
FEATURE FILM DIRECTOR 