Resistance and Resilience: Photography

Botanical Garden Iris (c) Ellen Hudson

July 25, 2025

As of this particular date, July 25, 2025, 47,000 people per month are being deported by the Trump Administration (re: Rep. Dale Strong/Alabama)while 1,000 are caged in Alligator Alcatraz, an inhumane concentration camp in the swamplands of Florida. So much for due process. Our own president is under scrutiny for his possible involvement with underage girls. So much for “Christian values.” This administration has also turned a blind eye to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza where thousands of people are being killed off by starvation while it also withholds aid to most other needy and desperate countries. So much for compassion. Our Congress rescinded already approved funding for Public Broadcasting, a devasting blow to arts and education. So much for integrity. And yet, evil never has the last word. Not if we resist it which the arts encourage us to do.

Mill Creek Greenway (c) Ellen Hudson

Over the last few months, I’ve been offering this blog as a place to post creative submissions based on the themes of resistance and resilience (https://spirit-reflections.org/blog/). A quick search of “arts and resistance” will bring up scores of quotations by all sorts of artists. Three quotations that resonate with me and underscore the focus of this blog-series are these: Photographer and French artist JR says that his wish is to “use art to turn the world inside out.” Author Ursula K. Le Guin wrote that “Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art, the art of words.” Singer and activist Paul Robeson says that “Artists are the gatekeepers of truth. We are civilization’s radical voice.” Genesis 1 confirms that God “created” and saw that what God created was “good.” So we enlist the arts in all and any times of turmoil.

Arts also are often partners with spirituality, and such is the case for the practice of “visio divina” which means divine seeing. In this practice, an image or piece of art becomes the focus of meditation and reflection that invites our sense of sight into our relationship with the Creator. The four steps include gazing at the art, reflecting on the emotions, questions, curiosities that arise, responding to the art through prayer (or journaling, poetry, or any other creative process) and resting in silence.

Greenway Butterweed (c) Ellen Hudson

When I received photographer Ellen Hudson’s artwork, the first thing that came to my mind was visio divina because of the exquisite beauty which reminds me that even in the middle of dark, chaotic times, life blossoms and engages us, and God kisses the earth. Ms. Hudson’s photos call me to sit with them and listen to the “still, small voice” that speaks through them, comforting me and offering me resilience, grounding, and hope. Her photos are inviting reminders that, no, all goodness is not lost but is waiting to be found.

Gingko leaves (c) Ellen Hudson

Sunset at Islamorada Fish Co. Restaurant (c) Ellen Hudson

What do you see/feel/ponder in these photos and how do you respond? How do these photos offer hope and change? Are you able to notice both resistance and resilience in them? Do they invite or challenge you to respond with art?

Loop Road Great Egret and Alligator (c) Ellen Hudson

Resisting with you,

Rosemary

Ellen (LN) Hudson is a longtime photographer with a gifted eye that captures the nature, spirituality, beauty, and joy all around us and that captivates the viewer. A former staff photographer for The Huntsville Times (Alabama), she continues to delight and illuminate us with her photography. Ms. Hudson lives in Madison, AL, and is the mother of three grown children and is blessed with several grandchildren.

Alpaca Farm (c) Ellen Hudson