Croix de chemin II

Sandra Herber
recent  |  interesting  |  random  |  favorites  |  contacts  |  sets  |  tags:  
Croix de chemin II
Croix de chemin II

A simple, small and slightly wonky croix de chemin near the town of Saint-Denis-De La Bouteillerie in Bas-Saint-Laurent.

This image is one in a series of croix de chemin (roadside crosses). There are between 2,500 and 3,000 croix de chemin scattered all over rural Québec, the historic centre of North American Catholicism. Despite the decrease in influence of the Catholic Church during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s and the prediction that, as a result, croix de chemin would disappear from the rural landscape, recent surveys have shown that around 80% of the croix that were surveyed in the 70s and 80s are still standing. Croix de chemin are large (15 to 20 feet tall) and were “erected to fulfill a vow, to sacralize the land, or to ward off calamities” (Kaell, p. 135). Croix de chemin are most often made of wood and are decorated with iconography of the Passion. There are three main types: (1) the simple croix de chemin which may have some decorative elements at the end or centre, (2) the croix de chemin featuring instruments of the Passion which are decorated with a lance, nails, hammer, whip, ladder, crown of thorns, and/or rooster and (3) the calvaire, which depicts the crucifixion scene.

I wanted to photograph the croix de chemin is as wonderful pieces of folk art – made and maintained, sometimes for many decades, by locals, that are uniquely Québecois. In the end, I photographed almost 40 croix de chemin to create this series.

Kaell, H. (2017) Marking memory: Heritage work and devotional labor at Québec’s croix de chemin. In K. Norget (Ed.), The Anthropology of Catholicism (pp. 122-138). University of California Press.

Joly, D. (2007). Wayside crosses. In Encyclopedia of French cultural heritage in North America. www.ameriquefrancaise.org/en/article-296/Wayside_Crosses.html

Bas-Saint-Laurent, Québec, Canada.

I wrote a blog post about my December 2022 photographic trip to the rural areas of Chaudière-Appalaches (Beauce) and Bas-Saint-Laurent, south and east of Québec City. If you'd like to see some behind the scene shots, video and read some stories about how I shot these images, take a look.

If you'd like to see the rest of the images from this trip, take a look at my Québec album and if you'd like to see the series within the series - the croix de chemin - there's an album for them, as well.


Website | Blog | Instagram

© All Rights Reserved
Taken on: December 29, 2022
Tags: Everybody's photos tagged with Bas-Saint-Laurent Bas-Saint-Laurent Everybody's photos tagged with Canada Canada Everybody's photos tagged with Croix de chemin Croix de chemin more » Everybody's photos tagged with Quebec Quebec « less
Sets appears in:   • Québec    • Croix de Chemin    more » • Winter Minimalism    « less
Groups appears in:   • Trésors Ruraux du Québec / Quebec Rural Treasures   
Camera: Nikon Z 7, f/11.0, 1/40 sec, 16mm, ISO 64 (more info) (hide info)
Camera: Nikon Z 7
Lens: NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S
Aperture: f/11.0
Exposure Time: 0.025 sec (1/40)
Focal Length: 16mm
ISO: 64
Exposure Bias: +1 EV
Flash: No Flash
Exposure Program: Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode: Auto
Metering Mode: Multi-segment
White Balance: Auto
Scene Capture Type: Portrait
Color Space: Uncalibrated
Software: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 12.1 (Windows)
Show full info
Stats: 5,806 views / 8 comments