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BYWATER BROS. EDITIONS
Greg Reynolds: Jesus Days
Text by Greg Reynolds.
A powerful personal account of faith and homophobia in 1970s-era religious America
From 1978 to 1983, Greg Reynolds served as a youth minister for an evangelical Christian organization, spreading the teachings of the Bible and encouraging young Christians in their faith. When a missionary gave him a 35mm camera, Reynolds--an untrained photographer--began to take pictures of his close-knit community. What emerged was a photo diary--sunlit kodachromes show happy youths strumming guitars at Christian camp, missionary trips to Central America and short-shorted men smiling on the beach during a religious canvassing trip. Reynolds himself appeared the evangelical poster boy throughout this period: he prayed, read the Bible and refrained from sex. It wasn't until 1983, when he resigned from the organization and came out as gay, that he was able to fully pursue photography and reevaluate his life. The resulting paperback, assembled retrospectively, is a unique document of 1970s-era religious America, its images a powerful account of illusion and disillusion.
Featured image, "Greg, Ft. Wayne, Indiana," is reproduced from Jesus Days.
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In his succinct recent photobook, a real treasure on our list, Greg Reynolds writes, "A while back, I found dusty boxes of kodachromes stored in my parent’s house. I had not looked at the pictures in over 25 years, mainly because it was from a time I wanted to forget: my Jesus Days. During my twenties, I was a youth minister for an evangelical Christian organization that had member chapters at secular colleges and universities across the U.S. It was my job to encourage young Christians in their faith. I listened to their problems, led Bible studies and prayer meetings, engaged in missions overseas and even took Jesus to the sunny beaches of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida during Spring Break. As a boy, I had grown up in a Southern Baptist family in Kentucky. This born-again Christian world was as normal to me as bacon and eggs for breakfast. A missionary gave me a 35 mm camera in 1978 and I started to take pictures. They were not meant to be seen by anyone other than my friends and family. I photographed out of curiosity and the desire to capture a moment. Without my knowing it at the time, I realize that these pictures were my first artistic body of work. Looking at the images today, I see all my longing and wishes expressed, things I could not say in words. To others, I appeared the model Christian, an evangelical poster boy. I prayed and read my bible, went to church and refrained from sex. But all through these days, I had a secret that I could not admit to others nor to myself. I loved but was not in love with the girl whom I thought I should marry and I was in love with my best friend with whom I never would have a relationship. I feared that if my secret was exposed, I would lose my family, my friends and my position. It would be the end of myself as I knew myself. Compelled by my conflict of faith and homosexuality, I pursued counsel. A year and a half later, I broke up with my girlfriend, resigned from the Christian organization and came out as a gay man. During the summer of 1983, I moved to New York City where I entered Columbia University’s Film School. I became a photographer." Featured image, "Greg, Hitchhiking, Yucatan, Mexico," is reproduced from Jesus Days. continue to blog
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FORMAT: Pbk, 7 x 9 in. / 88 pgs / 80 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $35.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $47.5 ISBN: 9780993856709 PUBLISHER: Bywater Bros. Editions AVAILABLE: 4/28/2015 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: In stock TERRITORY: NA ONLY
A powerful personal account of faith and homophobia in 1970s-era religious America
Published by Bywater Bros. Editions. Text by Greg Reynolds.
From 1978 to 1983, Greg Reynolds served as a youth minister for an evangelical Christian organization, spreading the teachings of the Bible and encouraging young Christians in their faith. When a missionary gave him a 35mm camera, Reynolds--an untrained photographer--began to take pictures of his close-knit community. What emerged was a photo diary--sunlit kodachromes show happy youths strumming guitars at Christian camp, missionary trips to Central America and short-shorted men smiling on the beach during a religious canvassing trip. Reynolds himself appeared the evangelical poster boy throughout this period: he prayed, read the Bible and refrained from sex. It wasn't until 1983, when he resigned from the organization and came out as gay, that he was able to fully pursue photography and reevaluate his life. The resulting paperback, assembled retrospectively, is a unique document of 1970s-era religious America, its images a powerful account of illusion and disillusion.
