Gilbert McCarragher
Photographer

Moritzkirche, Augsburg

Although I hadn’t visited Augsburg previously, on my first trip I felt I knew every inch of the church, having photographed an architectural model of it for John Pawson Architects some years earlier. Technically little had changed from that 1:25 scale model—though standing in front of the finished building, I came to realise I was no longer the giant... Now the building reached upward and beyond me, while the Saints, from their now elevated positions, gazed down at me and the world below.

On arriving at the church I was greeted by Father Helmut who, smiling, held a buttered salted pretzel for me in one hand and a set of keys to the church in the other. I set to work immediately photographing the space. At night, streetlight fell across the church windows, transforming the ceiling into a constellation of stars. As morning approached the streetlights switched off and the stars disappeared. The sun’s first beam of light pushed through the east window, cutting the darkness and illuminating the font. The water within took up the light and glistened.