Serra’s California

By Craig Alan Huber

Iconic photographer Minor White once wrote “No matter how slow the film, Spirit always stands still long enough for the photographer It has chosen.” I am highly humbled to be chosen for such duty. This portfolio and a resultant larger body of artwork honors Junípero Serra and the nine California Missions he directly founded and the other dozen he set the stage for.

I feel a life force flowing through the Missions of Alta California. This unseen energy has a Spirit. It is this Spirit I try to capture and reveal through my work. During my pilgrimages through the Missions, the Spirit often ‘calls’ to me as an embodiment within the physical artifacts that remain. Another attraction for me is the organic and provincial nature of the Missions, as many of them still contain construction materials and artifacts produced from surrounding locales centuries ago. Some even contain relics of Junípero Serra himself.

These Missions stand as a testament to the perseverance, reverent evangelical zeal and extraordinary fortitude that led Serra and his brother Franciscans from humble beginnings in Majorca, Spain to a new land that was oceans away from their homes. Today, the California Missions stand as important elements of both California state history and the history of the United States. Each Mission has its own character and feel making it distinctive and worthy of notice. In a world that grows increasingly hectic and fast paced, these Missions continue to offer places of peace and tranquility.

The ways this ‘Spirit Within’ manifests itself in the Missions are myriad, but often takes the form of vestiges and the events that occur within their walls. I recognize that this entity transcends the dimensions that we deal with every day when using our five senses. This is not always easy to do when limited to working with only the sight and feel of a photographic print. My goal is to offer a suggestion…with extra perception it can be felt in our hearts and our souls – that is where this spirit communicates with me.

From San Diego to San Francisco, the Spirit of place is revealed. Each scene was carefully envisioned – with patience I sought to feel a piece of Serra’s Spirit move through the frame during the long exposures, to capture It for posterity on film and later in print. My hope is that you can feel and see It as well.

– Craig Alan Huber, 2015

Portfolio Details

Limited edition print portfolio honoring Saint Junípero and his accomplishments in Alta California

Artwork and Introduction by Craig Alan Huber

Includes seven original 11x14 gelatin silver prints

Your choice of seven prints from a selection of 49 images

Each print under and over-matted to 16x20 inches with archival 4-ply

Housed in an archival black buckram portfolio case

Limited to an edition of 30 portfolios

15% of the profits to be donated to the California Missions

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