This Christmas while I was home visiting Kansas City, I found several amazing Nativity scenes. I have always enjoyed Nativity scenes, but the ones I photographed seemed to stand out to me in a different way. As you look at the five I posted, please pay attention to the color palate of each scene, the textures, and their age.

After taking 5 years of Art History classes, I am painfully aware that many of the famous and not-so famous depictions of Jesus and the Nativity are from a European perspective. For example, Mary always seems to have light glowing skin and bluish eyes, and sometimes the wise men or the shepherds have darker skin. In the correct historical and geographic context, Mary might have had darker hair and eyes, with more of an olive colored skin. The shepherds would have dark, tanned skin from watching their sheep in the fields every day, and the wise men would be more diverse, some possibly coming from the Orient.

After I continued finding these gorgeous Nativities, I thought it would be a lot of fun to photograph them and work on a mini series. I had so much fun, in fact, I will continue shooting them for a couple of years. (It would be amazing to eventually get a December gallery show for them in a few years.)

Sometimes I didn’t have my camera with me when I stumbled onto a choice Nativity, and I later retraced my steps and took the photograph. My last night in town, Able drove me around Independence, a suburb of the city, looking for classic light up manager scenes. We listened to Fish Fry play eclectic Christmas songs as we drove around the icy streets. When I found ones I liked, I’d tread the snow with my Hassleblad and meter the picture. Back inside the car, I high-fived Able, and we drove on looking for the next house. It was a great way to end our trip.

Note: The photograph above is my favorite photograph I took while I was in Kansas City this trip. I found this Nativity on 18th Street in the window display of a high end antique store. I am very interested in the small scale of the porcelain Nativity in the foreground of this image, and the large size of the wooden hand-painted Mary holding the rosary beads in the background. It is as if she is looking over the scene and podering it in her heart. I am also drawn to the muted colors and different textures.