Every Image a Prayer

A meandering pilgrimage across America.

Riedel’s ongoing series brings together medium format film photographs, short stories, essays, and musings—creating a body of work that moves fluidly between image and language. At its core, the project is less about documentation and more about presence: a sustained effort to notice, to pause, and to feel.

“The act of taking photographs is my form of meditation and prayer. My hope is that the result—the photograph—can have a similar effect on the viewer.”

Working in analog film, Riedel embraces a slower, more tactile process—one that encourages attentiveness and reflection. This deliberate pace allows space to explore existential questions and to pursue fleeting moments of transcendence.

“This pace helps me explore the existential and chase the transcendental. I pray that I can capture just a glimpse of that wonder.”

Reviewer Daniel Dennert, Curator & Arts Program Manager at the San Diego International Airport, reflected on the work:

“Nate’s series, Every Image A Prayer, positions each photograph as a pause along his road trip out west. These images capture moments of rest… offering just enough restoration to keep going until we find ourselves at the next stopping place.

Equally compelling is Nate’s ability to articulate this sensibility… Together, the images and text create a cohesive and resonant experience—one that can be encountered on the surface or entered more deeply through reflection, contemplation, and perhaps prayer.”