HUGE BOOK UPDATE:

Yesterday I hit a big milestone in this huge project. I submitted 531 carefully selected pictures to the publisher.

I basically decided the content of the book. Which buildings, the careful balance of states, religions, styles of buildings and which pictures people will be seeing. There's plenty more to be done on the book but the bulk of my effort is mostly done and it feels SOOOO GOOOD!!!

WHAT IS THIS PROJECT / BOOK

This project started in 2013 it's understandable that many people may not know what this is or where it came from, I'll give what I consider a short recap to a long story.

In 2012 life was wonderful I did traveled non-stop I traveled for photoshoots all over the country and went out of the country 5 times for photoshoots. I've found that when you start to get complacent and things seem too good you look for ways to keep challenging yourself and moving forward. In 2013 on another trip I threw a wrench into the plans of life... and asked the question what next? Being religious i prayed about 3 different solid wonderful options and the answer was D none of the above. The answer was a book... which one week later would be 2 books and a kickstarter to make it possible.

BIG CHANGES

I would soon go from making great money and traveling for fun around the world. To being in an airstream traveling non-stop to all 50 states, always out of my mind tired rushing against time to make this crazy dream come true. I would be in the airstream for 14 months straight only to come home and decide to stick in the airstream. The first book came fast... it only envolved 70 buildings. That was nothing. The second book is still in the works having to deal with getting back into life and then the immense amount of work going through hundreds of thousands of pictures and over 4000 buildings.

Lightning storm outside of Nebraska at the Glass Church

Old Round Church... the devil couldn't hide in the corners.

MANY A STORY

There are 100+ stories to tell but I'm giving the short recap. How this project actually came to be on the last day was a legit miracle that still astounds me even 5 years later. It was truly impossible that this happened... and yet it did and it makes so much sense that it did. Most of these buildings have a story from history but I have my own story about how they came about... some of them are pretty special. I learned a great lesson.

"You make a plan but also make room for amazing alterations to that plan"

Meaning don't get too stuck on your own limited vision when there are so many other grand possibilities and you may find that a higher power has something much better in store than what you're limited mind can come up with.

Absolutely no-where in Nebraska in a town small enough to fit in a small bus

This is my favorite story and now my favorite image of the trip ... everything fell into place better than I could have ever ever planned. There's no possible way I could have ever made this happen besides a string of what seemed like shear coincidences wrapped in unfortunate circumstances.

BUT... IT'S DONE!!

Ok it's not done the book still has a ways to go but to me I'm feeling like a huge burden was taken off my shoulders when I sent the email to the publisher giving them the pictures and essentially the reigns to the project.

Society of Friends - Quakers. (New Hampshire)

Hindu building in North Carolina

SOME NUMBERS

I'll give you some ball park numbers just to get a feel for it.
300k+ Images taken
13+ Months on the road
4000+ Religious buildings photographed
40k+ miles driven (plus flights to hawaii and alaska)

I also saw a lot of friends around the country, dozens of state capitals, most of the largest cities and spent a ton of time in the vast empty rural lands of america. I parked at more Wal-Marts and Truck stops than i can remember. I was tired all the time but learned to push myself. I learned that going to all 50 states and getting a good feel for them all takes way more than the year i tried to cram it into. Also it's crazy expensive. I spent 12-15k just on gasoline. Sure I saved a lot getting the airstream even though it's not cheap it beats 400 nights in a hotel.

A Vietnamese catholic church in Arlington Texas on a foggy sort of winter night

WAS IT FUN or WAS IT WORTH IT?

It wasn't "fun" but it was worth it. Seems like our culture is obsessed with things being FUN. Fun isn't the ultimate goal of life. I think doing something grand and noble and beneficial is even better. I think progressing and pushing yourself to be better is more important than moments of fun. I think that a person focused on BEING a better stronger more capable and loving person will be HAPPIER than someone focused on fun. That project was HARD dang hard. I had moments of fun and I tried to keep my attitude light hearted and happy. But it's not go to the beach or an amusement park fun... it's not "let's go travel the country" fun. It was a non-stop 24/hr a day job. Sleep became a strategy ... everything was strategy. How would I get somewhere by that time, how would I get there and still have enough energy to get the job done. How little sleep did I need and what would be the best route there so I could photograph as many buildings as possible

So ... no it wasn't fun but would I do it again? YES. Of course I would know a lot more this time around and I have a better setup in the airstream. But It was fulfilling and it was a great thing and I'm glad I could make it happen. I guess I'm still making it happen.

A little one room chapel in Tennessee, not too many places out east you can see stars like that

A baptist church in Texas where my sister lives that runs a BBQ several nights each week

THE FINAL MARATHON

I was supposed to go to europe in June but just never felt right ... it was even gonna be paid for. When I got a phone call a few weeks ago I realized the exact reason. I had a deadline. Deadlines really motivate you. I had 2 weeks to compile the buildings and send them. I kind of dreamed that all I had to do was take pictures ... that was a crazy naive dream. Sorting, Organizing, Rating, Keywording and now I have to basically decide the entire CONTENT of the book. I'm not doing the writing but i'm making the decisions about what will be the subjects of all that writing.

I needed to make sure there was a balance between States / Religions / Types of Architecture and of course make sure the best images made it in there.

I could tell you all the reasons why it tooks hundreds of hours but dealing with crazy amounts of images is a big part of it. Even just making sure I had all the states listed on the pictures was a two day project. Just so I could have the information I needed to make sure each state was well represented.

we ended up being able to extend the deadline to 3 weeks... so basically for the last 3 weeks I've been staring at these buildings all day long. I've gone through and selected the 400-500 buildings 3 times trying to make the selection even better.

Then on top of that I started the research on them... partly out of necesity to know the religion and states. Researching 500 buildings online takes more time than you think even if it's just to get the name, religion, location. But also to help the next researcher by saving links to what you find.

The picture in 2012 that started this whole ride... that's another story

WHAT'S NEXT

So the situation is very different than when I self-published my first book or when I gave images to the publisher for my next two books. This group has been doing books for like 40 years. They are a little different than a publisher. They work with big big publishers and sell a more complete book and don't do small print runs. They're likely to work with a chain like Costco and have it in every Costco and Sams in the country. That'd be fun and very different than having it available on amazon or something.

The book therefore doesn't have a release date yet... the process of selling the idea is now in the hands of the professionals. There are a ton of benefits of self-publishing but it's just so much more work I'm enjoying a bit of a team behind it and able to focus on some other stuff in life. Just getting it done and in the hands of the original kickstarter supporters will be a big success. This will not be a money maker (compared to what I spent)... this is strictly a labor of love and a project that I will be proud to say I had a hand in.

Jewish synagogue in Georgia

A Mosque in Arizona

https://www.jarviedigital.com/Faith-In-America/500-Curation/n-tH5tNn/#
An episcopal church in Wyoming

A now mostly abandoned church building in Iowa last used as a Pentacostal building

Where Martin Luther King Jr preached in Georgia

A little white church in the countryside... THIS is the lasting image that I imagine when I think of Religious Buildings in America

Well as a portrait and wedding photographer... I think i did alright!

Ask me any questions

• About the book design and plans
• About the travels
• About the process of making a book
• About a picture

Maybe i'll answer here or I'll do another post all about it