The little gift shop around the corner had a six-foot long rosary directly from Italy in its window. Naturally, with my fixation on all things spiritual, I bought it. I have always had a visual fascination with the rosary but not being raised Roman Catholic, didn’t know much about it. Naturally, I googled “how to pray the rosary” and lengthy directions came up. The basic prayer is: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Anyway, it is not unusual that I would use something the wrong way so here I am wearing it as an accessory. I move my fingers along the beads and enjoy their feeling in my hands. The rosary is so long, I have to hold it up or it will drape on the ground. I used the rosary as a prop for a photograph before. I was dressed in a monk’s outfit in front of posters for the Broadway show “Rent.” Rent is a musical about impoverished artists and musicians struggling to survive and create under the shadow of AIDS. Why was the church so silent and punitive? This exposure was taken by my Rolleiflex, Planar 1:3.5, 75mm. I used Kodak Portra NC film, ISO 400.