THE DIVINE BRISBANE PROJECT

I was fascinated by a group of buildings soon after I arrived in Brisbane in the early 2000’s

The worship places.

I had recently stepped back from a long career as a professional photographer.

Along the way I developed many interests, including architecture, history, and religion. These 3 things collided to produce what has become the Divine Brisbane project.

I set about cataloguing and photographing all the worship places within the boundary of The City of Brisbane.

It transpired that there are roughly 560 buildings in every corner of The City, except for the islands.

A database was created with the help of the religious community, which gave me definition and guided the photography process.

I tried to shoot with a “normal camera” in the manner of an amateur, but some buildings required more respect and creativity, so the view camera was used.

A project this size needs structure and direction. The large area I divided into 5, for each direction of the compass and a central area. The list would be confined to places which were open to the public. Generally, this excluded the many chapels within schools, hospitals and retirement homes.

I began in 2002, intending to publish the results as a book. I had verbal support from many, but after much research it became clear that I should shelve the project.

Now, in the 2020’s the availability and cost of being able to mount this site is achievable.

The options are an “e-book” or a comprehensive expansion of this site to encompass images, the data base and even geotagging of all the photographed properties.

If you wish to contact me, please click on this link.

Robert Gray