Drawn into your Presence

Drawn into your Presence: A groundbreaking new photography exhibition by Leica Society member Jim Grover

A Victorian era bible is the genesis of a new and groundbreaking photography exhibition, Drawn into your Presence, that pairs 30 enlarged photographs of Victorian engravings of religious artworks, by master artists such as Raphael, Da Vinci, and Titian, with 30 contemporary photographs of ministry and faith in south London. Twenty of the 30 original artworks are held in world-famous art galleries including the Prado, Louvre, Uffizi, Hermitage, Vatican, and V&A Museum.

The exhibition offers a unique visual experience for visitors. The enlarged engravings, which could sometimes take years to create, reveal the incredible craftsmanship of the engraver with each dot, fleck and line laboriously scratched onto a steel plate by hand. And placing these dramatic, centuries-old, engravings directly next to contemporary photography creates a unique and thought-provoking visual bridge between classical art history and everyday community ministry and faith.

The exhibition shines a light on the remarkable skills of the Victorian steel-plate engravers who could translate an enormous canvas, perhaps 3 metres high, into an engraving to fit on a page in a bible. Says Jim Grover, the photographer behind the exhibition “I was awestruck by these beautiful engravings which give a new life to iconic and familiar artworks. The six times enlargement allow us to see them in an entirely fresh light and as magnificent artworks in their own right; the engravers could never appreciate their work at this scale.”

The Imperial Family Bible, first published in 1840 by the prominent Scottish publisher Blackie & Son, was a devotional centrepiece and resource in Victorian homes that could afford one. Distinctive features included its enormous (‘elephant folio’) size, the presence of up to 73 steel-plate engravings of biblical scenes, and two Family Register pages as a family record. The Family Register pages in the copy owned by St James’ Church, Clapham, reveal that it originally belonged to Samuel and Louisa Relf, who were married there in 1872.

The exhibition reveals the roller-coaster story of the lives of Robert and Louisa, and their descendants, which included prison, adulterous affairs, and illegitimate children as well as a highly decorated World War One officer.

“It’s been a fun challenge pairing each engraving with one of my contemporary photographs”, says Jim Grover, “I feel so privileged to have been able to photograph faith, and the ministry of men and women, in prisons, care homes, hospitals, cathedrals, and churches in south London parishes.”

The exhibition is being staged in the same Clapham church where the story started with an 1872 wedding, and where the bible found its way back to, “by fate”, last year, some 150 years later. The exhibition is being professionally staged as part of St James’ Church participation in this year’s national Heritage Open Days festival.

Drawn into your Presence runs from September 16th to October 18th (Wednesdays-Sundays). Admission is free. An accompanying 92-page catalogue contains the complete exhibition. For more details and opening times visit www.stjamesclapham.org.uk