Nicolò Sertorio: House of Worship

photography monograph for Nicolò Sertorio
essays: Gretchen Buggeln and James T. Campbell

From Nicolò Sertorio's introduction:
I moved to Oakland in 2006, brought here by unaffordable studio rents in San Francisco and a desire for more demographic diversity. Although not a regular church goer—I regard myself as a member of the fastest-growing denomination in the United States, “spiritual but not religious”—I was immediately struck by the number and variety of houses of worship in the city. The peaceful coexistence of so many different spiritual traditions inspired me; in Italy, where I spent much of my youth, such freedom is still elusive. Over the years, however, I began to notice how many of these religious places were closing. Iconic buildings were torn down and replaced by apartment complexes, clearly a more profitable proposition in a market-driven economy. For years I would drive by old churches and think that someone ought to document them before they disappeared. I eventually reached the conclusion that that ‘someone’ would have to be me.


254 pages
12 x 9 inches