“Lots of time to read” is a series I started in 2017 documenting monasteries around the world for a fellowship at Xavier University. I was drawn to the idea of solitude, and I wanted to see whether or not my conceptions of monastic life fit the way monks in different cultures actually lived. These photographs are, in some ways, a pilgrimage, but they also grew out of a desire to escape. In 2019 I recieved funding from the University of Kentucky to continue this project as a part of my graduate studies. At the time I’m writing this, I have visited over twenty different monasteries on three different continents, but I’m not sure this project is finished.

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        Living in solitude seemed like a niche thing to study. I found the process of creating these photographs to be immensely healing, but I struggled to explain why I felt these photographs might be relevant to the anxieties I felt towards normal, daily life in an increasingly digital world. Then the COVID-19 pandemic started, and the topic of solitude was brought to the forefront of many people’s minds. My photographs took on additional complications: I saw my life isolated in an apartment contrasted against a life of voluntary solitude chosen by many of the subjects in my photos. What did this conscious separation have to teach those of us who were living in isolation for the first time, if anything?

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        While I set out on my project with the goal of documenting monasteries, I understand this work differently now. I’m not convinced these photographs are good representative documents of the places I’ve visited. Instead, I think they speak more broadly about the experience of searching for meaning in quiet places.

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        In a conversation I had with the Abbot of a small monastic community in Alaska, the Abbot shared that summer was his favorite season: the weather was nice, the monastery could house visitors, and salmon were plentiful. Naturally, I asked what winter months at the monastery were like, to which he gave a slight smile and said, “In the winter we have lots of time to read.”