Covenant: Scenes from an African American Church

With an introductory essay by Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa, Covenant is, in the words of photographer Tyagan Miller, "a record of things seen and heard in uncommon circumstances, the view of life that underlies it, reflect[ing] the mutual aspiration of human beings everywhere."

Culled from more than 4,000 images taken by Miller over a four-year period, the 93 photographs record the salient aspects of the life of Friendship Missionary Baptist Church on Indianapolis’s near west side—services, baptisms, weddings, funerals, social events, and portraits of the congregants. In accompanying interviews, congregants share their stories of miracles, seeing angels, losing a child, racism and brotherly love, and being young, black, and poor.

Finalist - ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year 2007: Photography Category

With an introductory essay by Pulitzer Prize—winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa, Covenant is, in the words of photographer Tyagan Miller, "a record of things seen and heard in uncommon circumstances, the view of life that underlies it, reflect[ing] the mutual aspiration of human beings everywhere."

Culled from more than 4,000 images taken by Miller over a four-year period, the 93 photographs record the salient aspects of the life of Friendship Missionary Baptist Church on Indianapolis's near west side — services, baptisms, weddings, funerals, social events, and portraits of the congregants. In accompanying interviews, congregants share their stories of miracles, seeing angels, losing a child, racism and brotherly love, and being young, black, and poor.

Tyagan Miller is a documentary photographer. His work has been published in Twilight in Arcadia, a book of photographs about migrant farm workers in the tobacco fields of southern Indiana, and Falling Toward Grace: Images of Religion and Culture from the Heartland (IUP, 1998). He lives in Bloomington, Indiana.

Yusef Komunyakaa is distinguished senior poet at New York University. He has received numerous awards, including the William Faulkner Prize (Université Rennes, France), the Ruth Lilly Prize for Poetry, and the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. His latest book is Gilgamesh, a verse play. He lives in New York City.