Jackie Nickerson: Faith

Jackie Nickerson's Faith is a compelling portrayal of a hidden world, the Catholic religious orders of Ireland. Her combination of gentle portraits and simple documentation of daily rituals and communal devotion suggest an austere existence grounded in optimism, strength and contentment. The simplicity of Nickerson's images invokes the muted and restrained palette of Fra Angelico, bringing an often beatific air to her tranquil subjects. Whilst never suggesting that she is able to divine or represent the veiled mysteries of faith, Nickerson does manage to honestly present a vocational life riven by clarity of purpose and personal courage.
Jackie Nickerson has lived and worked in Paris, Tokyo, London and New York, and currently lives in rural Ireland. She has an international reputation for photographing people and their environments. In 2002, she published Farm, a book of portraits of farm workers taken across southern Africa. Her work is represented in many important collections, such as the Irish Museum of Modern Art and the Santa Monica Museum.