Scott Nichols Gallery presents work by Bay Area photographer Michael Rauner.
The show features his extensive series of photographs illustrating Erik Davis’
book of the same name.
California is famous for its diversity, its eccentricity, and its prophetic
influence on popular culture. Since the 19th century, the Golden State has also
been one of America’s most fertile climates for spiritual and religious
movements. Beautifully weaving together text and image, The Visionary State is
the first book to address the full story of “California consciousness.”
Ranging from Yosemite to Esalen, from televangelism to Neopaganism, from Mormon
pioneers to contemporary Kali worshippers, acclaimed culture critic Erik Davis
weaves together the threads of California’s religious history into an enchanting
and vivid tapestry.
Michael Rauner’s haunting iconic photographs ground
the book’s many stories in the sacred landscape and architecture of the
Golden State.
Together Davis and Rauner map the peaks and faultlines that characterize
the place that is both the nexus and far frontier of American religion.
