Because of trade winds on the Arabian Sea, Kerala began trading with the outside world a thousand years ago. Muslim merchants came in the 8th century. Vasco de Gama arrived in 1498, and the Portuguese, Dutch and English controlled its pepper trade for centuries. Such business eventually brought Christianity to India, and this church, which follows Syrian Liturgy, is one of many that can be found in Kerala. The deep religious faith of its worshippers can be seen in this image of three women at prayer. There is great contrast here between the woman who stands and prays with her hands to her face, and those who remain seated, their prayers written on their faces.

A statue of an angel protecting a child stands over the sign of the craft studio where I made the preceding image. Using a wideangle lens, I moved my vantage point until the finger of the angel touched the wire overhead. I create an incongruous metaphor for the role of religious faith in a technologically oriented world. I converted the image to black and white to make the storm cloud overhead seem more threatening. The strong diagonal thrusts of the wires and the adjacent structure energize the image. The wires may carry electricity, telephone or Internet messages, yet they are symbolically monitored and perhaps even protected here by an icon of a faith that is 2,000 years old.

This man is praying just outside of the church at the outdoor chapel shown in the preceding image. The play of early morning light on his face makes it seem as if it is carved in ebony. The stretched tendons in his hands and neck convey the intensity of his prayers. I made this image with a long 420mm telephoto focal length. The worshipper never noticed me. I include a softly focused church window as context.

The young women in this picture had been standing in the surf. Soaked to the hips, they emerged from the sea and climbed on to the seawall. Suddenly one of them clasped her hands together, looked into the sky, and began to pray. The pale horizon of the Arabian Sea stretches those prayers towards infinity. The contrast between the body language of the women is quite expressive as well. One of them places her hands on her hips, waiting patiently for the other woman to finish her prayer. It does not matter if those prayers are Hindu, Muslim, Christian or Jewish – the people of Cochin have tolerated all of them over the centuries. In the end, the expression of faith remains a private matter – to each his own. And that is the ultimate point of this image.