Shots in the Dark

Saint icons have been reproduced over and over in the last two millennia for many reasons: to glorify a religious belief, to establish a local identity, to rally masses, to assert authority, to claim authenticity, to protest, and to sell cards with prayers on the back on the subway. Each reproduction reaffirms the mysterious power of these images and the most interesting reproductions transform their meaning. I wanted to explore the appearance of saints in the contemporary urban landscape of New Haven, from the Virgen de Guadalupe spotted under I 91 to a cross-dressed Saint Sebastian martyred in East Rock Park to Saint Cajetan (patron saint of bread and work) on strike in Fair Haven’s now-abandoned industrial zone.