If one were to meet God outside of meditation I am sure that the meeting would take place in or around water. As such the baptismal font is the perfect symbol of this meeting place. The baptism in water, as a rite of transformation and union, is one of the few rituals left in the patriarchal church that maintains a direct connection to nature and/or the feminine.



At one time, all baptisms were performed in a natural body of water such as a river or a pond. With time it became increasingly difficult to gather by a riverside and wade in the water, so baptismal fonts were constructed of cement on the church grounds. These photographs of outdoor baptismal fonts were taken between 1985 and 1992 in the black-belt region of Alabama. Towards the end of my project, the fonts were becoming scarce as baptisms were being moved indoors into a more "civilized' setting, and the fonts were being covered in dirt. I suspect there are no more fonts left standing at this time.



When I moved from the south my fascination with the baptismal font continued. I constructed my own font and created several rituals around it using natural materials such as soil, light, sticks, fire and water.

Baptismal Font Under Shelter Baptismal Font, Newburne, Alabama Inside of Baptismal Font Pulpit Cemetery The Sanctuary Baptismal Font with Barrel Churches: Exterior #7 (from the Alabama black-belt region) Churches: Exterior #6 (from the Alabama black-belt region) Churches: Exterior #5 (from the Alabama black-belt region) Churches: Exterior #4 (from the Alabama black-belt region) Churches: Exterior #3 (from the Alabama black-belt region) Churches: Exterior #2 (from the Alabama black-belt region) Churches: Exterior #1 (from the Alabama black-belt region) Churches: Interior #6 (from the Alabama black-belt region) Churches: Interior #3 (from the Alabama black-belt region) Churches: Interior #2 (from the Alabama black-belt region) Churches: Interior #1 (from the Alabama black-belt region) Churches: Interior #5 (from the Alabama black-belt region) Churches: Interior #4 (from the Alabama black-belt region) Baptismal Font #11 (from the Alabama black-belt region) Baptismal Font #15 (from the Alabama black-belt region) Baptismal Font #14 (from the Alabama black-belt region) Baptismal Font #1 (from the Alabama black-belt region)

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