One of the things about this book is that I’ve always dreamed that we could put together a book that might help inspire people who haven’t been to the temple yet to really help them set their goals, to stay strong, to plan go to the temple and love the temple. – Robert A. Boyd
When photographer Robert A. Boyd started looking for artistic scenes to capture around temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it didn’t take him long to find them.
“It seemed like every time I was at a temple to take pictures, a beautiful scene was there waiting for me,” Boyd said in a phone interview with the Deseret News.
His photos of about 60 temples across the United States and Canada are included in the book “His Holy House” (Deseret Book, $49.99).
“The temples are so beautiful in and of themselves,” Boyd said. “When I see something that inspires me, I just try and capture it.”
It was initially his mother-in-law who approached him about taking photos of temples that were more artistic than what was currently available. And since Boyd, who is based in Utah, was already traveling to various LDS temples to photograph weddings, he decided to see what he could do.
Not long after that, he was at a temple for a wedding and “there was this amazing scene.”
“And I thought ‘Oh, this was what she was talking about,’ and I started clicking the shutter,” Boyd said.
The Boston Massachusetts Temple, he said, had “gorgeous windows and gorgeous columns with trumpet flowers.”
He felt a sense of the pioneer heritage at the Vernal Utah Temple, which originally was the Vernal Tabernacle.
At the Nauvoo Illinois Temple and the Salt Lake Temple, the craftsmanship of the carvings stood out.
“One group that I hope this book honors is the craftsmen who work on the temples, the ones historically and current ones,” Boyd said. “One of the most amazing things is the gardens. (The gardeners) really try to make it look like an Eden, and they are an unsung hero and make (the temple) look beautiful.”
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints consider each temple to be God’s house and a place where couples can be married, where families can be sealed for eternity and where members of the LDS Church can continue to learn about God’s plan of salvation and make covenants. It’s also where ordinances such as baptisms and sealings can be performed for a person’s deceased ancestors by proxy. (See “Temples” under Gospel Topics on lds.org.)
There are currently 143 operating temples throughout the world, with more than two dozen more announced or under construction. The 144th temple to be dedicated is the Phoenix Arizona Temple, which is currently open for tours and will be dedicated in November, according to mormonnewsroom.org.
In “His Holy House,” temples are shown in a variety of seasons, including one spread of the Salt Lake Temple showing a door and a tree at the same angle in all four seasons. The photos are at different times of the day and in sunshine, fog and rain, a few with rainbows or the moon hanging overhead.
Boyd also shares zoomed-in detailed shots, including stained-glass windows, close-ups of ornamentation on doors and other carvings. Two different page spreads show images of the statue Moroni on more than a dozen different temples.
Some photos are broad landscapes that show the temple and the surrounding gardens, fountains and scenery.
Others are of angles and perspectives that aren’t commonly seen with each temple. The photos are simply labeled with the name of the temple. Scriptures are scattered throughout the pages.
“I just want to capture that so everyone else can appreciate that beauty,” Boyd said of the designs on temples.
Some of Boyd’s favorite photos included in “His Holy House” are of the Salt Lake Temple, where he and his wife were sealed to their three adopted children.
“The spirit that’s there often has to do with it,” Boyd said of the experiences he and his wife have photographing temples.
He named one of the photos of the Salt Lake Temple with red leaves on the trees “Amaranthine,” which is the name of a shade of red and means “eternally beautiful” and “everlasting.”
Another image of the Salt Lake Temple is titled “A Mighty Fortress” and is a vertical photo that is centered on the center column of the temple and highlights the detail in the stonework and carvings.
“It’s one of the more powerful pieces that I think I’ve done,” Boyd said.
A favorite of Boyd’s wife, Eleah, is one they placed opposite “A Mighty Fortress” in the book, called “Salt Lake Sanctuary.” It shows the Salt Lake Temple on a winter night and was taken from an angle where the temple is visible along with some of the surrounding snow-covered grounds and glowing lights.
“I just love the feeling that no matter what is going on in our lives,” the temple is a sanctuary, Eleah Boyd said. “It’s obviously cold (in the photo), but still beautiful, and the temple just glows … I just love the whole thing.”
The majority of the images in “His Holy House” were taken within the last 10 years or so (they started marketing and selling the artistic temple prints in 2005), and some of the images are from 2000. The camera Boyd uses is a Canon 5D Mark III, and he has used a Nikon D1x along with other Canon cameras.
Planning for the 140-page book started about eight years ago. There were many more photos that he had hoped to use, but there simply wasn’t room in the book.
“One of the things about this book is that I’ve always dreamed that we could put together a book that might help inspire people who haven’t been to the temple yet to really help them set their goals, to stay strong, to plan go to the temple and love the temple,” Boyd said.
In photographing temples, he watches the light.
“There is a balance point at dusk and sunrise where the light of the temple balances with the sky and it’s just right,” he said.
When he is photographing a temple, he wants to capture the light of the temple.
“The temple has to be the focus in the picture and not drowned out by a bright sky,” he said. “The temple has to be the brightest thing.”
He also looks for balance in the photo and makes sure the temple is straight.
“When all that comes together … that balance identifies peace with them,” he said.
Boyd was first introduced to photography when he saw an image appear on photographic paper in the high school darkroom. He was hooked.
“I’ve always loved art, but I’m not that patient of a person,” Boyd said of the time it takes to work with other art forms.
The time factor wasn’t the only thing that hooked him on photography.
“I really loved the ability to capture emotion in a still format,” Boyd said. He started out as a wedding photographer, had a studio and also did portraits. Then he started traveling to photograph weddings.
It wasn’t his plan to mainly photograph temples, and he initially figured it would be a hobby on the side.
But that isn’t the way things have turned out. Boyd is planning to continue taking photos of temples.
At the time of his interview with the Deseret News, he was in Kirtland, Ohio, to photograph the Kirtland Temple and others in the Midwest.
“It is beautiful,” Boyd said of Kirtland. “We had the most amazing sunrise this morning.”
He’s also started another project of collecting antique objects, like old radios, with a broad concept of helping the youth connect to the past.
“Sometimes these ideas come to me, and I just don’t know what they will end up being,” Boyd said.
That project began when the Boyds found some of Eleah’s ancestors’ graves while on a trip to Rochester, New York, and they were able to fill in some missing names in her family history.
“It’s a fun project to keep being creative,” Robert Boyd said.
For more on Boyd's art, see his website at robertaboyd.com.
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