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GOD IN THE TEMPLES OF GOVERNMENT
STRATEGIC PLANNING TOUR ANALYSIS & DESIGN WASHINGTON DC
THE NATIONs CAPITOL |
______ ABOUT CARRIE DEVORAH [ You Are On This CLICK ] _________________________________________
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_______________DISCOVER DC ____________________DISCOVER DC _____________________DISCOVER DC _______________
QUADRANTS . ALPHABETICALLY . FACTS ABOUT THE DISTRICT . ANNUAL EVENTS CALENDAR . TOURS . WEDDINGS Etc
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_______________DISCOVER DC ____________________DISCOVER DC _____________________DISCOVER DC _______________
QUADRANTS . ALPHABETICALLY . FACTS ABOUT THE DISTRICT . ANNUAL EVENTS CALENDAR . TOURS . WEDDINGS Etc
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ABOUT CARRIE DEVORAH
- Author of acclaimed "Handbook of Hebrew Calligraphy"
- Award winning photojournalist
- Leading Lifestyle designer
- Judaica designer with art in museum and private collections around the world
- Changed the commercial face of retail marketplace Judaica (1978)
- Retired International news, sports and politics photographer
- Former religion editor "Lifestyles Magazine"
- Rare cross credentialing as CCIA, MPI, DRS, profiler and former CA-BSIS
- Alumnus- Yeshiva University's Stern College For Woman, Pratt Institute
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nAFFILIATIONS
AIM Arlington Indepedent Media District of Columbia Preservation League DCPL Dupont Circle Civic Association DCCA |
Pratt Institute Alumni Senate Press Photographers Association White House News Photographers Association Alumni |
SELECT DEVORAH INTERVIEWS:
From History To Theory by Kerwin Lee Klein
Finding God's Signature in Washington by David Brody CBN News
From History To Theory by Kerwin Lee Klein
Finding God's Signature in Washington by David Brody CBN News
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwqcmFxdpAA
Q & A WITH CARRIE ___________________________
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HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE YOUR GOD PROJECT:
"As I began building the first authentic faith focused tour of religious imagery on the Walls of the US Capitol, interweaving the city I have called home for several years now, I began designing what I call 15 minute tours of ‘God, bagels, books and a movie' designed to finish before the kids begin to wiggle and the tweens want to scream ‘uncle.’ WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT YOUR GOD PROJECT: "I worked as a news photographer in several cultures. I learned that people are pretty much the same everywhere. Only the zipcode changes. "People stop to see what I photograph. Carrie says about tourists and others crossing paths with her in the field. "I stop, they stop. I look. They look. I point up my camera up. They look up. They ask. I answer. And then? I grin. In that moment, I share a tidbit the person might otherwise not have had the opportunity to learn about such as the A-list star whose ancestor stands high on a pedestal in the Nation's Capitol. I love sharing what I learn daily about The God Project." “My gotcha moment is when a child, or adult, bored with being dragged around miles of history, listens to me then heads off with smiling about a special something they can share when they got back to wherever home is.” 
WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE:
I believe in destiny. My God project, as I call “God In The Temples of Government is my heart and soul. My God project picked me. All of me that has scattered over the years has come back into one place of comfort in this project. I am a news photographer. I was a religion editor for Lifestyles Magazine; a soferet (woman Hebraic scribe); author of what remains the landmark Hebrew calligraphy book since its day of release in the early 1980’s; I am an investigator (Carrie holds rare cross credentialing as a Crime Information Analyst, profiler, mediator, trained PI and is licensed by the State of California’s Bureau of Security Investigative Services). When Secret Service would ask me why I was photographing building exteriors, I would tell them, pan face, " I am an investigator looking for God in America." The thing is, I was just that. 
WHEN DID YOU COME TO DC AND WHY:
I came to DC after covering racing news on several continents. I thought I was settling in to Washington DC for three months or so. I contributed photographs from golf, International Group 1/ Group 2 horseracing, boxing, Royals, and red carpets images to publications around the world including England, Ireland, the US, Canada, Dubai. DID YOUR TIME ABROAD TEACH YOU SOMETHING SPECIAL: Yes. It was during this time abroad that I absorbed the power of a photo. One photo of mine changed legislation in Northern Ireland. I was in the right place at the right time. And now, look at my God project, in a landmark Supreme Court case…. Life is amazing, isn’t it. Six photos spoke volumes to the people and to our modern day lawmakers. WHERE DID YOU GROW UP: I am a native of Canada. I have lived in America for all but the first seventeen years of my life. I have lived in New York City, London and Washington DC. I tell people I was born in Canada but that I grew up in America. I am that American immigrant success story we hear about. I arrived in America from Canada for college, travelling down on a Greyhound bus with $75 CDN in my pocket. Much of my inspiration is drawn from my childhood as both a city girl and a country girl. |
WHAT WERE SOME OF THE EARLIEST THEMES YOU DREW:
That is easy, horses, horses and more horses. It is this passion that drew me to cover international horseracing. “The first drawings I did,” says Carrie, “were not appreciated. My teachers were not happy I drew horses up and down the columns of my notebooks. I spent an awful lot of time after class in the principal’s office writing lines. There my inventing career began. I could write 100 lines in a shorter time. I invented a device to hold up to 10 pencils at a time.” Carrie Devorah says, since moving to America, she is blessed with the gift of doing what she loves - giving people joy of the beauty she expresses in her art or through her camera lens. Carrie graduated Pratt Institute (NY) as a children’s book illustrator. She trained to tell stories in her art, illustrations and, today, each photograph Carrie creates, showing history, her character, and her whimsical personality. 
DO YOU HAVE MENTORS WHO HELPED SHAPE YOUR DESTINY: Absolutely. My greatest mentor is my watercolor teacher from Pratt Institute, Elizabeth Elberg. Ms. Elberg's three minute mention of British watercolor art set me, a Canadian newly arrived in America, off to learn about an art style of my national heritage that became my signature look until I retired from commercial art. I owe my lifetime of joy to this amazing woman. One day I returned to Pratt to share with her the impact of that one moment I carry forever in my heart launched me into a career as a world renowned lifestyle designer.“ “I shared with her that my Judaica artworks is represented in hundreds of private collections around the world including 13 museum collections; La Bibliotheque Nationale, France; Smithsonian Private Collection, Washington DC; B'nai Brith Internationale, Washington, DC; Skirball Museum, Los Angeles; Maurice Spertus Museum, Chicago; South Africa, Greece.” “I drew “happy”,” Carrie said, “bunnies and rabbits and bears and more.” “I cartooned, I drew portraits, I drew and I drew and I drew.” And then one day when I picked cameras up again, and began snapping away. One day, it all came back together again, putting art and photos together, again. You see, way back when I was a student at Pratt, I did art for Danskins, in which I merged my painting on to photographs I took of animals at the Central Park zoo.” 
DO YOU HAVE SPECIAL FEELINGS ABOUT YOUR ART:
So much so. I am blessed my dream is coming true. I am embracing my art again, blending it with my photography. I am deep in history, steeped in faith and, what is the most rewarding for me, the sharing my passion, relishing when someone "gets" it. I am overwhelmed a moment I waited a lifetime for has arrived. I love my work. I share with people all the time that I have worked my whole life but never had a job. I had my art. I look forward each day to what the next day brings me. Life is clearly not 9 – 5. Never has been, never will be. I will draw until my last breath. It brings me peace. And to others I bring joy. I may photograph presidents and world leaders but my greatest moments are when I take photos of every day heroes who otherwise might go unsung.” |
ABOUT CARRIE DEVORAH's GOD PROJECT _______________
DEVORAH & THE NATIONAL JOURNALISM CENTER
Carrie Devorah began photographing a pictorial collection of religious themed images she found in the nation’s Capital, soon after she moved to WashingtonDC, September 13, 2003. The Canadian born investigative photojournalist Devorah was the first photographer accepted as an intern to the renowned NationalJournalismCenter, NJC’s three month training program. Devorah was unusual as an intern. Devorah had moved to DC after success as a religion editor, Lifestyle Designer, licensing and photographing world class horseracing with rare cross credentialing as a Crime Analyst, profiler, security, mediator and trained Master Private Investigator. It was fitting her God Project, as she calls it, chose her. Within her first few months in the Nation’s Capitol, Devorah, assigned by the NJC assigned to both a conservative and a liberal publication, won a tri-state sports award for her story on a young boy’s experience at the Washington International Horse Show. Devorah, also, won global acclaim in history, religion and travel circles for her pictorial essays “God In The Temples of Government” published by Human Events, the nation’s oldest conservative online and print magazine. Devorah, a graduate of the prestigious Pratt Institute, worked as an illustrator and Hebraic Scribe for over 20 years. Her artworks are in private collections and museums around the world. Devorah says her blended backgrounds of Faith, Design and Investigation made her the perfect vehicle to find and archive God in the Capitol with what viewers describe as “awesome photographs” showing without question what is actually on the Walls backing her photos up with documentation of what viewers are looking at.
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DEVORAH AND HUMAN EVENTS
Devorah began her “God In The Temples of Government” project in fall 2003 soon after Human Events named Judge Roy Moore their Man Of The Year for having moved a sculpture of the Ten Commandments into the Alabama Supreme Court rotunda in the stealth of night. Devorah describes her volunteering to transcribe Human Events editor Joseph D’Agostino interview with the Judge Roy Moore, as a learning curve. Devorah moved to DC from England with little knowledge of politics. Because Devorah had questions of the interview with Judge Roy Moore, she went on her lunch hour to take photos at the Supreme Court of the United States of the imagery Judge Moore described. A picture is worth a thousand words. She showed her editor what she photographed at the Supreme Court. Devorah was challenged to see what other religious images she could locate located in the nation’s capitol within government properties and funded with government monies. 
Devorah walked the District of Columbia corner to corner. She was routinely stopped by United States Capitol Police and Secret Service asking why she was looking so intently at their building exterior or interior, tromping on their lawns, looking around their trees and in their water fountains. Initially, all Devorah could provide as explanation were her media credentials and a smile as she answered ‘she was looking for God in DC’ about of a dodgy risk even when she explained about her God project. Security was easier to address when Devorah was able to provide clippings of her published God project work. To Devorah’s amazement, more often than not, the Security were not aware of the imagery on the walls they protect. |
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DEVORAH in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
The WSJ editors wrote:
“When this nation's citizens sit down tomorrow for their Thanksgiving turkey, most will begin their meal with another traditional American custom: grace. These days grace increasingly is held to be one of those things that should remain purely private. But from the Mayflower Compact through George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, public acknowledgment of Providence as the source of both our law and our blessings has long been a prominent feature of American civic life too.
The WSJ editors wrote:
“When this nation's citizens sit down tomorrow for their Thanksgiving turkey, most will begin their meal with another traditional American custom: grace. These days grace increasingly is held to be one of those things that should remain purely private. But from the Mayflower Compact through George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, public acknowledgment of Providence as the source of both our law and our blessings has long been a prominent feature of American civic life too.
That's easy to lose sight of amid the turmoil over the recent removal Judge Roy Moore's Ten Commandments display from the Alabama Supreme Court or the seasonal wrangling over how just how many snowmen it takes for a creche on public property to pass legal muster. But when Human Events intern Carrie Devorah took her camera around the nation's capital, she found that our federal buildings and monuments are filled with religious imagery. The result is a striking photo essay called "God in the Temples of Government," available at the conservative weekly's Web site (HumanEventsOnline.com). Not surprisingly, the Ten Commandments and Moses -- the law and the lawgiver -- feature prominently. Start with the large seal of the Commandments on the floor of the National Archives. Then move to the bronze statue of Moses in the Library of Congress. And let's not forget the Supreme Court, which features Moses both at the center on the East Portico as well as on a frieze inside the courtroom (less well known is that the prophet Mohammed appears on another frieze). Miss Devorah also captures the stained glass window of a kneeling George Washington, hands clasped as he recites the King James version of the 16th Psalm. She includes too a quotation from Lord Tennyson hanging in the Library of Congress rotunda: "One God. One Law. One Element. And One Far-Off Divine Event To Which The Whole Creation Moves." We could add the carving of the Ten Commandments on the wooden doors to the Supreme Court. The marble relief of the face of Moses that faces directly opposite the Speaker's chair in the House of Representatives. Or the depiction in the Capitol rotunda of the sister ship of the Mayflower, the Speedwell, where the Bible is open on the chaplain's lap and the Pilgrim motto, "In God We Trust, God With Us," plainly visible on the ship sails. Miss Devorah's photos only scratch the surface of America's religious heritage. But on the eve of Thanksgiving, they help remind us of the link between the faith of our forefathers and the freedoms that all Americans -- believers and nonbelievers -- give thanks for today.”
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DEVORAH and VAN ORDEN v PERRY
November 2003, the 5th Circuit United States Court of Appeals ruled in a suit brought by Thomas Van Orden against the State of Texas that a Government sponsored display of the Ten Commandments on display in Austin Texas at the Texas State Capitol, did not violate the First Amendment’s establishment clause and that it was constitutional the monument delivering both a religious and secular message could remain in place on the Capitol grounds. The Ten Commandments had been erected in the footsteps of the 17th Century Pilgrims and the 18th Century Founding Fathers of the USA, by The Fraternal Order of the Eagles, an internatioal Society for the Performing Arts. Rick Perry was sued in his official capacity of Governor of Texas and Chairman of the Texas State Preservation Board. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott represented the State of Texas. Thomas Van Orden was represented on a pro bono basis by Duke University School of Law Alston & Bird Professor of Law Erwin Chemerinsky. Van Orden claimed the Ten Commandments sculpture outside the Texas Court bothered him when he visited the Court. The High Court agreed to hear the Van Orden case, October 2004, the same time a similar case- , Kentucky’s McCreary County v ACLU of Kentucky was being heard. The McCreary County case challenged the display of Ten Commandments at two Kentucky county court houses. Both Kentucky and Texas’ legal teams contacted Carrie Devorah’s after locating her “God In The Temples of Government” pictorials online. Texas included Devorah’s images in State of Texas Amicus Brief, Van Orden v. Perry, 545 U.S. 677 (2005). Mark Perry, counsel of record, for the Respondent(s) wrote “The images reproduced in this brief come from a photographic essay that vividly captures the prominence and prevalence of religious symbols in and around public buildings in the District of Columbia alone…” Carrie Devorah was cited as an authority. CARRIE DEVORAH and HUMAN EVENTS
November 26, 2003, Human Events published Devorah’s first “God In The Temples of Government” pictorial collection online and in print http:www//humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=2664. Eagle Publishing staff were sharing a potluck Thanksgiving lunch on Friday. Devorah, an intern not staff, waiting to leave DC for a family Thanksgiving in California, used her time to email her pictorial URL “out” a virtual message in a bottle. Joseph D’Agostino, her editor, emailed during the holiday letting her know Thanksgiving, Wednesday, November 24, 2003 the Dow Jones and Company Inc. newspaper the Wall Street Journal “Review and Outlook” editorial “Washington's Commandments” focused on her pictorial. That was the tipping point for Devorah’s pictorials. The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote about her pictorial as did other publications. Devorah’s “God In The Temples of Government” link was being passed forward like wildfire, in and out of the political and faith communities acclaimed for the simplicity of Devorah’s photographic message showing, without question, what is written in and out of the walls of government. December 15, 2003, Human Events released Devorah’s second pictorial http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=2441 DEVORAH and THE ETHICS AND PUBLIC POLICY CENTER
February 2005, The Ethics and Public Policy Center filed with the Supreme Court of the United States their Amicus Brief in support of respondent Texas Governor Rick Perry. The Ethics and Public Policy Center selected images from Carrie Devorah’s “God In The Temples Of Government.” The plaintiff was Thomas Van Orden. http://www.legalaffairs.org/howappealingEPPCDeacologuebrief.PDF DEVORAH and SCOTUS
June 27, 2005, the Supreme Court ruled by a vote of 5 to 4, the Texas Ten Commandments display was constitutional. Devorah’s photos were used as evidence in the Texas matter. McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky was handed down the same day. Devorah’s images were not utilized as evidence in the Kentucky matter. The Supreme Court ruled by a vote of 5 to 4 the Kentucky display was not constitutional. |
DEVORAH and CHRISTIAN BROADCAST NETWORK
July 21, 2009, CBN, the Christian Broadcast Network asked Devorah to escort them on a 15 minute tour of faith images in DC. Devorah, working on developing a faith tour in DC for visitors to the Capitol, took CBN White House Correspondent David Brody reported in his segment “Finding God’s Signature in Washington.” http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/shows/morning/2009/July/Finding-Gods-Signature-in-Washington-/ DEVORAH and LARRY KUDLOW
March 5, 2008, columnist Larry Kudlow wrote about Devorah’s pictorials in his editorial “The Big Ten, They Are A Good Thing:” “The Ten Commandments should stay right where they are — in all cases. Various monuments, structures, and statues of the Ten Commandments can be found all over the U.S., including some highly visible spots in Washington, D.C. Courtesy of “God in the Temples of Government,” a photo essay by Carrie Devorah in Human Events (the crusading national conservative weekly), we are reminded of three prominent monuments in the capital city: Moses and the Ten Commandments can be found in the rotunda of the Library of Congress, on the rear façade of the U.S. Supreme Court, and inside the Supreme Court’s courtroom.” DEVORAH SUES FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE NEWT GINGRICH FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
December 30, 2009, Patrick Gavin, a correspondent for the Politico, reported “Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich faces a lawsuit from a DC-area photographer for pictures included in his 2006 book, “Rediscovering God In America.” Gavin wrote “Among the charges in Devorah’s 46 page complaint, obtained by POLITICO, is that “Mr. Gingrich has caused tortious injury in the District of Columbia by infringing Ms. Devorah's copyrights in photographs within this District; Ms. Devorah resides in the District of Columbia and will suffer the effects of the tortious injury committed by Mr. Gingrich in this District." The lawsuit says that the conduct of Gingrich and his publisher, Thomas Media Inc. (Thomas Media Inc. and Integrity Media Inc. are named as defendants in the lawsuit), have "been and continues to be intentional, willful, and with full knowledge of Ms. Devorah's copyright interests and infringement thereof." Devorah is seeking such things as an injunction against Gingrich and Thomas Media and "an award of actual damages, including licensing fees or reasonable royalties, and profits as permitted under the Copyright Act, in an amoùnt to be determined at trial." Devorah and Gingrich settled. Devorah is working towards completing her photographic walk through faith history in the nation's capitol for a book and walking tour. Devorah said, “I feel my ability to uncover foundations the country can be proud of, arises from my combined trainings as an illustrator and investigator. I embarked on this photographic project with no preconceived notions of what I should find but, rather, open to patient exploration, research and understanding of what I continue to reveal. I had no expectation I would be learning of the best in people and the worst in people. I hope my opportunity to present history, as it was, rather than as it is being rewritten by individual protests, continues. My pictorials are the best argument for honoring our traditions, our heritages and history after all we (are) the People, for the People." "No one," continues Devorah, "can argue with the power of a single photograph to make the point rhetoric can miss." Devorah says each time she stands before a new testament to the creativity America is founded upon, she is overwhelmed with awe of the extraordinary artworks that emerged from Freedom of Expression. Devorah says her ability to uncover faith foundation pillars the country can be proud of arises from her combined trainings as an illustrator and investigator. “These images are everywhere for everyone to see,” says Devorah, sharing that her pictorials showcase what people see all the time but don’t look at, or that images that people walk past or walk over unaware the historic images of God in DC, history in the nation's capitol even exist.` Devorah says the imagery in her pictorials, the Freedoms of Expression that emerge alongside the foundation of America, are extraordinary. Devorah continues to explore, research and understand what she uncovered is her opportunity to present history, as it was written on the walls rather than as it is being rewritten by individual and protests. Devorah says the pictorials she presents are the best argument for honouring America’s traditions, heritages and history of We the People, for the People. |
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THERE IS NO "i" IN "WE THE PEOPLE"
DUTY . HONOR . COUNTRY
LEAD BY EXAMPLE OF WHAT IS WRITTEN
ON THE WALLs OF THE NATIONs CAPITOL
"LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF"
NOT BY INCITEFUL RHETORIC
(c) Carrie Devorah www.godinthetemplesofgovernment.com
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THERE IS NO "i" IN "WE THE PEOPLE"
DUTY . HONOR . COUNTRY
LEAD BY EXAMPLE OF WHAT IS WRITTEN
ON THE WALLs OF THE NATIONs CAPITOL
"LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF"
NOT BY INCITEFUL RHETORIC
(c) Carrie Devorah www.godinthetemplesofgovernment.com
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