As I write to you in this post, I sit in Dallas in my new apartment. Life is different now because I am have just graduated from Texas A&M and am working in Dallas as photographer and church planter. I have now been able to process some of my time in Israel and wanted to write to you all my thoughts. I have gotten a lot of feedback and I really appreciate everyone who is following my work. You are joy and I love that you share in that with me. Some of the feedback I have gotten has been as follows: “Why are you in Israel” “What is the purpose of the trip” “Can you give me details”. At this time I cannot fully tell you all of the details but I can tell you this. In July of 2011 I was asked to help film a documentary as the second cameraman on set. Immediately I became excited about it because of the opportunity but also because of the man who asked me to be apart of this project. Dr. Larson asked me fly over to Jerusalem with him and a few other men.
Any updates on the film will not come from me first but from Rick and his Facebook Page so if you want to follow that go and like his page. What I can tell you is the last film he made was a documentary that brought into discussion the idea that the Star of Bethlehem recorded in scripture actually happened. He uses scientific research and history to put forth an argument that an actual event occurred. He made that into a film and at one time it was the most sold documentary in the world. Now, like I said, I cannot tell you what this new film is about but I wanted to give you an idea of what I had been working on. I am very excited that I had this opportunity and I look forward to keeping everyone updated as more information comes out. Thank you all for your support.
What I want to leave you all with are some of my favorite shots from my last couple of days in Israel + Jerusalem. During those days we got to travel around the old city, which is the part of Jerusalem that is enclosed by the wall Sultan Suleiman built in 1538 AD. You can see it in the panorama I took of the city below. This part is sectioned into four distinct quarters: Jewish, Muslim, Armenian and Christian. We spent most of our time filming in the Jewish section when we went into Jerusalem. Also we spent time filming on the Mount of Olives and at the Garden of Gethsemane.
While we were in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem we walked up to the Western Wall. This wall and Jewish people there, make it one of the most iconic scenes in all of Israel. We walked up to the entrance towards the wall and at the front was a kiosk containing yamakas. We all grabbed one each and put them on as we walked up to the wall. There was so many things going on at the wall. Men were praying a loud, kneeling, moaning, crying, touching the wall, dancing, obeying, reading, quoting and observing. Stephen and I walked around with our cameras trying to capture as much as we could. The emotion was so rampant and the scenes so iconic that it was almost hard not to get a good shot.
According to the Tanakh(Old Testament), Solomon’s Temple was built atop the Temple Mount in the 10th century B.C. and destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C, and the Second Temple completed and dedicated in 516 B.C. Around 19 B.C. Herod the Great began a massive expansion project on the Temple Mount. In addition to renovating and enlarging the Temple, he artificially expanded the platform on which it stood, resulting in an enlarged enclosure. Today’s Western Wall formed part of the retaining perimeter wall of this platform. It is what is left of the temple. The Wall symbolizes so much for Judaism and is easily their most sacred site in the world. It was said they never leave the wall alone. The Jewish people are praying at all times of the day every day of the year. This wall is also called the wailing wall because so many jewish people come here to mourn the destruction of the temple. They pain for it and yearn for its salvation.
Something I want to point out, because I think it is so fascinating, is the photographs with the papers wedged into the cracks of the wall. The reason the Jews do this is to get their prayers as close as they can to the Holy of Holies, the place where the Lord resides according to Tanakh. They stuff the cracks full and keeping shoving them inwards hoping to get them as close as they can.
I hope you have enjoyed these photographs and some of the information I was able to share. Honestly it is hard to describe this trip to everyone. It went so quickly but I experienced so much. It was a thrill to work on a set with Stephen Vidano, the director, as well as Rick and Ralph as we worked to tell this story. It’s an experience I will be talking about for the rest of my life and I am glad you all followed and continue to follow my work. The photographs underneath are of the team and the places we filmed at. I promise to keep you all updated as information unfolds about the film. If you have any comments, questions or want to talk about my trip feel free to contact me or leave a comment. Once again thank you for tagging along on my journeys.
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