monk documentary

Since 2005 I have been working on a documentary about an urban monastery in Boston, the Little Brothers of Saint Francis. The project began as a semester-long assignment for a documentary photography class at Emerson College.

In the first few months of working with the Brothers I was endlessly impressed and inspired by their way of life. After completing my school assignment, which was to create 20 black & white prints, I became compelled to tell a more comprehensive story of their community and way of life.

I am in post-production on a still-image film which combines photographs with audio of the Brothers. I have developed over 2,000 traditional black & white negatives and recorded 40 hours of audio of interviews, prayer, chanting, and conversation. My vision is to combine these into a feature-length film. Currently, I am making a teaser to create a sense of how the images and audio will interact.

Once I complete the teaser I will apply for grants and appeal to individuals for financial support to finish the documentary. There will be more information on a forthcoming website dedicated to the project. If you'd like to be notified once the site is up, or updated about the process of the documentary, follow this link to sign-up for my mailing list.

See the original 20 photographs on my website.
Visit the Brothers' website.

Below are photos from the interview process.

Brother Labre holds the front door.

Brother Didacus during his interview.

Brother Giles during his interview.

Brother James reaches into his habit-pocket.

Brother Joseph during his interview.

Brother Labre during his interview.

I also interviewed a few of the Brothers' friends, including their neighbor Leonorah.

Brother Didacus holds his rosary.