Paper short abstract:

At Marian apparition sites throughout the world today, cameras are widely used by devotees to document divine phenomena and ritually engage the sacra of their faith. This presentation analyzes the vernacular practice of miracle photography and its role in sacred place-making.

Paper long abstract:

Throughout the world today, cameras are widely used by the Roman Catholic faithful to document miraculous and apocalyptic phenomena associated with apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Local traditions of miracle photography currently exist at a majority of active Marian apparition sites and the practice is now an important feature of an international Catholic visionary culture, embraced by believers as an authentic way to verify religious experience and ritually engage the sacra of one's faith. As a technological innovation on previous folk traditions of miraculous images, the vernacular practice of miracle photography offers insights into the dynamics of sacred place-making, the communication between divine and human realities, the photographic evocation of religious emotion, and the desire for visual "proofs" of the numinous features that sanctify a shrine or apparition site. Like sacred space itself, cameras act as a "focusing lens" to make religious ideals and images visible, confirming religious identities and providing experiences of the transcendent in a tangible manner. Based in fieldwork and illustrated with visual examples, this presentation analyzes miraculous photography in terms of personal meanings, folk hermeneutics, and the construction of religious space, drawing upon previous research on folk and vernacular religion (Barna, Bowman, Primiano); Marian apparitions, pilgrimage, and visionary experiences (Apolito, Christian, Margry, Turner); and notions of sacred space, hierophany, and simulacra (Eliade, Baudrillard, Knott, Smith, Tuan), among others.