This is the story of my photo shoot at the Holy Name Cathedral this afternoon in Chicago, Illinois...
The church is located just a short walk west of Chicago's Magnificent Mile. My first challenge was finding parking. I had erroneously assumed that the church would have a parking lot, but that was not the case. So, I located an open spot on a curb a few blocks away. The parking meter was $4 per hour and parking was limited to two hours.
The interior of the church is beautiful. I was anxious to start shooting as soon as I entered the church. But, for some reason there was a man on his knees in the center aisle. He would scoot on his knees a few feet and the stop, spread his arms wide open and look up to the ceiling. Then, he would scoot another few feet and repeat the process. I decided to patiently wait for him to work his way out of the frame. But, after 15 minutes or so, about 60 or 70 other people entered the church. A mass was about to start!
I observed the mass and communion--which lasted about 45 minutes. Once the service ended, nearly all of the visitors left the church. But, there was one older woman remaining. Like the man I saw earlier, she was on her knees in the center aisle! Her routine was different than his. She would face towards the left pews, go down to her knees and pray for 30 seconds. Then, she would slowly rise, walk down the aisle three rows of pews and repeat the process. Eventually, she worked her way nearly all the way to the back of the church and was on the floor just three or four feet from my tripod. Then, she started working her way back toward the front of the church! At that point, the security guard noticed what was happening and asked me if I wanted him to take care of the situation. I told him that I would wait a while longer as I didn't wish to disturb her. Shortly after, the woman left the church.
At this point, I had just 30 minutes left in the church before I needed to get back to my car. I captured the following photographs:
Nice work, are these HDR? The woman was most likely praying the Stations of the Cross. The man was doing a penitencial/adoration of Christ, the latter is somewhat ethnic. I'm sure, if you would have asked, they would have shared what they were doing and why they were doing it with you. It is commendable that you allowed them to continue their worship.
Douglas
Thanks for the explanation of the prayers...that makes more sense. I should point out that I was fortunate that I was allowed to take the photos. I was just a guest walking into the church from off the street. I had no authority to stop anyone from praying! I was surprised that the security guard offered to help me--but he could see that things were getting a little ridiculous with the woman practically kneeling on my tripod!
