Church of St. Francis Xavier, New York.
Photo: via Richard Silver.
Most people are familiar with the 360° horizontal panorama feature available on their smartphones, but New York-based photographer Richard Silver splices together multiple separate photographs himself to create mesmerizing vertical panoramas of church interiors.
The photographs in the series “Vertical Churches” are a bit dizzying, but they take all the hard work out of craning your neck to see Gothic rib vaulting, shining gold leaf, or rosy-cheeked putti.
The photographer captured cathedral ceilings in Poland, Austria, China, the United States, Iceland, India, Italy, Myanmar, South Africa, and Cuba.
For most of the history of art, religious works dominated artistic production. But today, some church leaders would go so far to call contemporary art “filth and stupidity.” This series, however, is something priests and art connoisseurs alike can get behind.
Holy Name Cathedral, Mumbai, India.
Photo: via Richard Silver.
Church of the Transfiguration, Krakow, Poland.
Photo: via Richard Silver.
St. Monica’s, New York.
Photo: via Richard Silver.
Cathedral of Christ Our King, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Photo: Richard Silver via Ignant.de.
St. Cajetan, Old Goa, Panaji, India.
Photo: Richard Silver via Ignant.de.