The Shrine of the Little Flower, a photo from Michigan, Midwest

Photographer's Note

If you travel north out of downtown Detroit along the main street, Woodward, you'll cross many religious structures. You'll see Catholic churches, Lutheran churches, Baptist churches, Catholic churches converted into other churches and synagogues. As you approach 12 Mile Road (12 miles north of downtown) you will see a tower rising in the distance. As you get closer you start to make out it's in the shape of a cross and then finally once you're there you see it stands in front of a church.

The National Shrine of the Little Flower is an art deco church built between 1920 and 1931. It started off as a small wood church for 28 families when Reverend Charles E. Coughlin was told to establish a Catholic parish in Royal Oak. Soon he had radio air-time and started a political show. He became famous nationally through his broadcasts and soon raised money to build a new church

Henry J. McGill of New York City was commissioned to design the church, bell tower and narthex. It was designed to fit the wedge shaped lot at the corner of Woodward, which runs on an angle and 12 Mile which is directly east/west.

The church is built of granite from Massachusetts and trimmed with Indiana Limestone. Stone inlay of the state flowers of 48 states adorn the walls to represent all the locations from which money was raised. The tower with the relief sculpture of the crucifix is made of limestone.

The church itself is octagonal in plan with galleries all around and chapels on the north and south. Three thousand can be seated beneath the nickel dome.

This isn't the best shot but before I post a couple more closer views I wanted to show the overall view of the church when you approach it.

In PP I played with the skew tool to correct for the perspective before resizing and sharpening.

Zanni, rudymalou, Pompey, Rinie_Hoff, papagolf21, cmartos, jhonny_blue, taivo, jhm, elihesamian, bertolucci, kajenn, snuggleaphagus, gaetantgp, mdchachi, sn00zie trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

rudymalou (800) 2004-06-02 15:33

Nice shot, nice subject, nice comment

danyy (0) 2004-06-02 15:35

j'aime beaucoup les couleurs naturelles, la netteté de tous les sujets, arbres et bâtiments, l'exposition parfaite et un cadrage adéquat.

Zanni (6108) 2004-06-02 15:35

For the moment I am satisfied of the panoramic view. I wait for more particulars. You certainly know that in Italy Catholic churches prevail as number over other churches. The style of this one doesn't seem very nice. I like the simplicity of Romanesque architecture.

Rinie_Hoff (9340) 2004-06-02 15:40

Hi Paul, beautiful picture of this church. Especially the bell tower looks really nice. It's funny, because it is almost as if the blue builidng is a complete different building than the other ones. Really nice colors,and the path includeed on the left side, is very nice. Nice blue sky!

dominique (11414) 2004-06-02 16:04

Etrange eglise mais plutot belle , j'aime l'architecture bien mise en valeur par ce cadrage . bien vu .

papagolf21 (76515) 2004-06-02 16:46

Très intéressante prise de vue. L'architecture générale est passionnante. La composition est bien faite, car elle nous permet de voir un ensemble de bâtiments dans son espace.
Les arbres mettent en valeur les constructions.
Très bien fait Paul.
Une note toujours très instructive. J'aime beaucoup.
Very interesting catch of sight. General architecture is enthralling. The composition is well made, because it enables us to see a whole of buildings in its space.
The trees emphasize constructions.
Very well done Paul.
A very instructive note always. I like much.

cmartos (242) 2004-06-03 3:04

Interesting overall view. I'm not fan at all of art deco churches in general. I agree with Gae that it doesn't seem very nice. Even the tower bell which has some interesting attempts or better said references to Romanesque is quite massive and not so elegant. That said, I'm really curious to see more detailed views of the site, especially when I look to the "digitalized gothic arches" behind the tower. Very good shot Paul, colours and sharpness are great here, and all structures are very detailed. I'll wait with Gae for your next posts from this church complex.

jhonny_blue (4956) 2004-06-03 5:21

Very good picture ! Very well composed and good colours !
Congratulations

taivo (1843) 2004-06-03 5:58

Nice structures and great shot! The sharpness is excellent, so is the composition. The tower is beautiful and it's just well exposed. The pine trees are very detailed, even at TE format :)

jhm (122410) 2004-06-03 7:13

Hi Paul, very informative note that makes the photo interesting, beautiful picture of this church, sharp-clear on soft of colours! My compliments Paul.

elihesamian (26127) 2004-06-03 10:55

Excellent,Paul!
very nice informative shot,Thanks alot,
The cloud is very interesting in the frame,All elements very great managed for great composition.very very good note,Light is strong point here,...
You did great.I like it.

harold (2347) 2004-06-03 15:01

J'aime cette église avec se ciel bleu et son jardin. Bravo

bertolucci (13351) 2004-06-03 15:29

You really portrayed quite a structure here, Paul. Very interesting. It looks very eclectic, TV-culture seem to have influenced this design. I'm curious about your next shots. I guess this church will suprise us.
I like your compo and the xcellent colours and sharpness. Very fine work.

kajenn (2406) 2004-06-03 20:14

Now this is a remarkable church, Paul. I've never seen anything like it. The tower is spectacular, mainly due to the art deco style, and the name is intriguing. You've done a nicely composed image showing the cross/tower with many details (I enjoy the lace-like work on the left side) and giving a glimpse of the proper church (3000 seats beneath the nickel dome - wow, I'd like to see that!).

Your PP worked rather well; I think you could have straightened the left side a bit more (?) and there's a tiny bit blue sign in the lower right corner, which could have been cloned or cropped. Otherwise it's a very nice overview of this church complex, which also represents a part of America that fascinates me.

snuggleaphagus (4146) 2004-06-09 2:35

This is so beautiful, and to me it evokes a powerful feeling. The way you've captured this gives a feeling of hardship and heaviness, which is great because it shows Jesus, and his life was hard and intense.
The colors are beautiful.
One tiny suggestion the partial blue sign on the right side of the screen could be cloned out.
This is beautiful and youe note as always so informative.

gaetantgp (1310) 2004-06-09 22:02

Very nice complex. I like the angle choose for this shot Paul, as usual crispy clear. Bravo...Gaétan

pm22822 (0) 2004-10-08 21:52

Great, clear picture, Paul! I love these kinda blue skies. That one little cloud above the tree on the left is killer. Wonderful, strong, vibrant light. Wonderful photo!