American Faith by Christopher Churchill began in 2004 and unfolded over seven years as he traveled through every U.S. state to photograph how people seek connection to something greater than themselves. He aimed to disentangle ‘faith’ from post-9/11 public rhetoric that sometimes cast it as righteousness or extremism, focusing instead on how conviction, ritual, and hope appear in everyday life across the country.
The pictures move between intimate portraiture and quieter site descriptions, creating a survey that stays attentive to place without becoming a mere itinerary. He photographs in spaces that carry different kinds of authority and vulnerability: megachurches and their parking lots, brothels, and private living rooms. Rendered in soft black-and-white, the work frames small signs of presence, while long exposures in active interiors occasionally introduce motion blur.
That visual steadiness is shaped by process. Churchill worked with a vintage Deardorff 8x10 view camera, composing across the full Fresnel ground glass to produce tightly structured frames and high-detail negatives later presented as gelatin silver prints and duotone reproductions. He paired each portrait with recorded interviews captured on a tape recorder and transcribed for the monograph, extending the project into an aural-visual record. A self-imposed rule of non-planning—"faith in happenstance"—guided the travel, and he later lived for years with a wall of 8x10 contact sheets while editing and sequencing.
Published as his debut monograph in late 2011, American Faith drew attention for its nonjudgmental approach and for how testimonials broaden the meaning of belief beyond doctrine. Exhibitions followed at the Center for Fine Art Photography and the Griffin Museum of Photography, and later in festival settings, including Cortona on the Move, Italy.
