The Matthew Cowley Pacific Church History Centre is pleased to announce the opening of a new temporary art exhibit, Light & Life: Stories and Photographs of a Global Faith.
The exhibit reflects the worldwide membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Watch a short video featuring Sister Eva Lynn Garlick and Elder Barry Garlick, Church History missionaries, talking about the exhibit.
"Light & Life" features the work of Church staff photographers Leslie Nilsson and Cody Bell, who travelled around the world capturing the everyday lives of members of the Church, often photographing individuals and families going about daily routines.
The images they captured might look like mundane moments in the lives of average people, but Nilsson explains, “I want to find beauty in the ordinary things.”
And these ordinary people each have unique stories that capture the human experiences of loss, sacrifice, loneliness, and struggle, and ultimately of faith, hope, transcendence, and light.
Bell says, “I have met the greatest people in the world—Latter-day Saints, complete with their strengths and struggles.”
- Friends Light and LIfe Exhibit
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- Family w/ grandpa, Taipei city, Taiwan, Light and Life Exhibit
- Couple from Tirana, Albania, Light and Life Exhibit, New Zealand
| Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. | 1 / 2 |
“We don't have to put on this picture-perfect appearance every day,” explained Bell, who has been capturing Church-related images on his camera for the past decade. “We can be OK with who we are and the struggles and trials we have, and there's a Church network to help us.”
Watch photographers Leslie Nilsson and Cody Bell describe their experience in a short video.
In the exhibit visitors see 22 photographs of Church members in 19 countries, including two from New Zealand.
The art labels provide background information and sometimes a direct quote from the individual in the photo.
The exhibit explores the relationship between light and life. The introductory exhibit states, "Life can be messy and hard, but it can also be happy and hopeful. Regardless of one’s current circumstances, hope in Christ brings light into life."
The exhibit is currently on display in the second-floor lobby of the Church History Centre, 465 Tuhikaramea Road, Temple View, Hamilton, New Zealand and will be available throughout 2020.
The centre is open Tuesday through to Friday, from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm and on Saturday, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.