about deb

I got my first camera when I was about 8 years old. That same year, I began to feel a nudge toward a life in ministry, a life of preaching.

Later, I studied journalism and learned more about how cameras work, and eventually I studied other things. I write for a living; it is what pastors do. I also take pictures. And I take apart pieces of my house and put them back together. I drive around. I think a lot. 

Photography is about how we see things, you know, not just recording what's there, but using that as raw material to create something, to create an image. I'm drawn to old things, well-worn and broken down things. I imagine the people who used them, loved them, and how we might love them again. 

A life of preaching is also about how we see things. I aim for the common good, and I find a huge amount of support in sacred texts for such a thing. I believe faith is about vision, and it is about politics — the way we order our life together. I think we could do a whole lot better about that. So I write and preach.

This website, then, is about how I see things, about the images I try to create, the vision I try to live up to. I’ll express it in photos, in essays, in recorded sermons. I’ll try to hear how others express it as I review books that have added to my life. And finally, I’ll try to help others express a common vision in liturgies for worship.

Besides all that, after 8 years in Flint, Michigan, and a brief sojourn in Denver, Colorado, I’m back in Louisville these days, happily married to Hannah. We live a vegan life, care for animals, and look forward to whatever is next.

If you read an essay or hear a sermon that you resonate with, feel free to share it. Just please let folks know where you got it: ©Deb Conrad, mendtheworld.me. Used with permission.

All images are also ©deb conrad and are available for purchase. If you see something you like, a print that might work in your space, you can probably find it in my Etsy store. If it's not there, send me an email and we'll work it out. If you’d like to use it for worship, email me and let’s have a conversation.