Maury Gortemiller: Do the Priest in Different Voices

Maury Gortemiller: Do the Priest in Different Voices by Aline SmithsonDecember 17, 2013

Body Parts ©Maury Gortemiller

Maury Gortemiller has a visual language that is full of humor, acute observations, and conceptual story telling. His project, Do the Priest in Different Voices, examines a personal narrative about faith and mythology.

Maury photographs and teaches in Atlanta, GA. He is also a competitive apneist, and plans to make an attempt on the breath-holding world record by the end of fiscal year 2014. Gortemiller holds an MFA in Photography from the University of Georgia, and MA in Southern Studies from the University of Mississippi and a BA in English from Baylor University.

Do the Priest in Different Voices

My most profound childhood memory involves reading a family bible. The illustrations, mostly Baroque-era paintings, did not function as a mere visual embodiment of the text. Rather, the pictures communicated in a far more powerful language, evoking both comfort and trepidation. The words of the book provided little interest, but the imagery moved me to contemplate the unseen. It is the pictures I remember – not the words.

The imbalance remains when I consider the possibility of a personal faith. While I am ambivalent towards the old established narratives, the semblance of the mythical in the mundane enthralls. I identify this conflict in the everyday: objects and situations that are alternately ineffable, laughable, and at times terrifying.