This church, which has attracted pilgrims since the 4th century, is the holiest Christian site in the world. It stands over the spot that is believed to encompass both the site of Christ’s crucifixion and tomb. Biblical sources describe both, and early Christian communities worshiped at the site during the first century. The Romans built a Temple to Aphrodite over this site in the second century, and Constantine The Great, the first Christian Roman emperor, built the first church here in 326 AD, which was in turn destroyed by Muslim invaders in 1009. The Crusaders recaptured and began to rebuild the church a hundred years later, and the present structure -- a mix of Byzantine, medieval, Crusader, and modern elements – slowly emerged.

I made this image of what is believed to be the site of Christ’s tomb. It is encased in large Greek Orthodox shrine, added in 1810. The shrine stands in the middle of a rotunda, below a recently built dome decorated with a 12-pointed star. My 24mm wideangle lens, low vantage point, and vertical frame draw the eye from the shrine up to the pure white hole in the center of the dome.

The light falling on this woman’s orange scarf as she entered the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem was striking. She seemed aglow, somber, and reverent as she approached the crowd of worshippers gathered around a large stone that is said to have once supported the body of Christ.

The Wailing Wall is one of the most sacred sites in Judaism. The site for Jewish prayer and pilgrimages for centuries, it is believed to have been part of Jerusalem’s Second Temple, first dedicated in 516 BC, and expanded by Herod the Great starting in 19 BC. Its name stems from the Jewish practice of coming to the site to mourn and bemoan the Roman destruction of this temple, along with the rest of Jerusalem, in the first century. Today, a huge plaza stands before it, holding up to 400,000 people. It is used for massive prayer and military ceremonies. I made this image during a light rain with a long telephoto lens. I was standing in the large plaza, and waited until a single worshipper walked into my frame between my camera and the Wailing Wall itself. He appears to already be at prayer. The four men holding on to the wall itself are reverently touching it in various ways as they pray. We can see many papers stuffed between the cracks – written wishes from previous worshippers. The wishes are periodically collected, and taken to the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives, where they are buried.

Five Muslims pray near Petra’s historic Treasury, carved out of sandstone two thousand years ago. The brilliant red/orange rock incongruously dwarfs the worshippers. They are totally immersed in prayer, and do not notice the scale incongruity that looms overhead. This photograph was very difficult to make – there were so many tourists swarming around the Treasury that I had to wait several minutes for a clear shot of these worshippers. Fortunately, my opportunity eventually came – just seconds before the prayer ended.

I used a long lens to focus on the responses of these worshippers during a mid-day service. I liked the flow of hands gripping the back of the bench as it moves through the image. I also liked contrast in the age of the people in this image – faith is faith, regardless of age or gender.

The Cathedral of Belem normally features two interactive sculptures, however at Christmas, it becomes a nativity scene with the addition of the third sculpture in a basket. I photographed in the Cathedral on the day after Christmas, and was able to walk up to the altar to make this image following a mid-day service. The three sculptures reflect wide variations in style and material, yet they interact here quite effectively.