Stone Beings

"The photographs contained in this book were made in Paris and Chartres, France, during the months of September and October 2006. They are the result of my personal fascination with the faces of medieval art as found on gargoyles, chimeras, sphinxes, as well as a host of other architectural details.
    "The artists who created these wonderful sculptures and carvings seemed to infuse them with individual spirits, perhaps based upon personal acquaintanceships or simply their own imaginations. The emotions on these faces may depict whimsy, agony, ecstasy or confusion, just to name a few. The emotion which any given artist would choose to depict represents a personal statement based upon his or her life, just like any artist of any time or place."
--Douglas Frank

"In these images, the artist has not tried to catalog the fantastic sculptures. In these photographs, they are soaring, peeking, cowering, haunting and alive. Like beings, the stones enliven and enact a human drama. What makes them so vital is the revelation of their inner life, whether they reside quietly in the edges or hidden corners of buildings, or sail into open space. And, in choosing to restrict the images to black and white, Frank’s images connect to a grand tradition in photography. Connected, yet still fresh, they are vivid reminders of the presence of the medieval past."
—from the Introduction by James D. Burke