There’s nothing else that nourishes my soul as deeply as praying through/with my camera. Whether I am able to enjoy a ten minute photo break when a roadside scene compels me to pull over or I have taken my camera with me for an early morning kayaking/looking/sensing venture through the marsh on Little Assawoman Bay, my photographic praying centers, transports, and connects me with God. I am convinced that this is intuitively true for many others – and could be for countless more, especially given the dramatic proliferation of DSLRs over the last seven years – and what might transform the task of “taking nice pictures” into a spiritual discipline for them is a theological framework or re-imagining of this common act. I have already done a good deal of reflecting, some preliminary writing, and speaking on this topic. I am hoping to build on this base, which was greatly expanded during my Lilly-funded Sabbath Leave in 2010 and further develop this into a book that could be shared with a wider audience. I plan to do this by engaging in four week long writing retreats and two intensive photography workshops, as well as by conducting interviews with photographers on the spiritual dimensions of their craft. I have “unfinished business” from that rich and fertile season of my life that continues to speak to me in deep places and yearns to take more concrete and useful shape.