Sacred Snaps: Interfaith Engagement Through Smartphone Photography

Sacred Snaps tells the story of a new approach to interfaith engagement. It is an invitation to see and engage religion, diversity, and inclusion through the lens of the mobile phone camera. These days, just about everyone owns a camera equipped cell phone. What if we recruited these cameras for the common good? When religion shows up in everyday life--at work, school, the mall, or the beach--often it is not welcome. At a time when so much of the public discourse is around equity, diversity, and inclusion, religion seems peripheral to the conversation. Many embrace the wisdom that our workplaces, schools, and communities are enhanced when people can bring their whole selves into every aspect of their daily lives. But religion and spirituality are not gaining the same ground as other aspects of diversity such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and ability. To be more fully included in the cultural conversation about human flourishing, religion needs to be seen and heard in new ways. The old paradigm of interreligious dialogue is no longer adequate. A new paradigm focused on building relationships at the grass roots of daily life is emerging. This cutting-edge volume brings together Christians and Muslims in the United States and Canada to explore what their beliefs, practices, and values look like in everyday life.

Roman R. Williams is founder of Interfaith Photovoice. He is a visual sociologist and consultant who combines photography and sociology for intergroup and interfaith engagement.

Catherine Holtmann is the academic chair of the Religion and Violence Research Team at the Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research, Professor, and Chair of Sociology at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada.

William Sachs is an Episcopal priest with decades of parish service. His experience has included doctoral study at the University of Chicago in modern religious history, as well as occasional stints as a college and seminary teacher. He is also a prolific writer who has published eleven books and more than two-hundred articles, reviews, chapters, and essays.