Foreword / Peter Barberie
Photographs and Text / Lauren Pond
Afterword / Lauren Pond
Acknowledgments
About the Prize

Peter Barberie

"Visually stunning.... Pond is deeply aware of the ethical quandaries of photographing a person while he is dying, which she writes about in a theologically provocative afterword. Her photographic eye is more compassionate than voyeuristic, and she captures something of the essence of Wolford’s faith even while hesitating to pin it down." — Christianity Today

"Open the book, and whether you are of faith or not, see what Pond came to see: people of faith, enduring to an end we all face. See sign followers seeking only to be obedient to their God. See people believing, loving and caring, backsliding and returning to be baptized again. And yes, dying. See people so human in their failings and need for re-baptism that a common saying among believers (however baptized) is that even the fish know who they are. Pond’s magnificent book will introduce them to you." — Ralph W. Hood, Jr., Reading Religion

"To move through this book is to feel the author unwind herself.  We feel her taking the measure of the space in which her subjects live.  Services that were once photographed as delirious frenzy are now shown as infused with calm, though no less ecstatic.  We get a sense that Pond has arrived somewhere very different than where she sought to go when she began, and it also feels like the beginning of a larger story." — Leo Hsu, Fraction Magazine

"Capturing the true essence of this type of religious phenomenon is delicate. One must balance scene with sensitivity. Pond's work in Test of Faith is a well-blanced blend of both qualities. . . . She invites viewers, through her photography and dialogue, to embark on a journey to understand more deeply the people who take on these acts of faith and who choose to live within a particular lifestyle." — Chelsie Dubay, Journal of Appalachian Studies

"Visually stunning.... Pond is deeply aware of the ethical quandaries of photographing a person while he is dying, which she writes about in a theologically provocative afterword. Her photographic eye is more compassionate than voyeuristic, and she captures something of the essence of Wolford’s faith even while hesitating to pin it down." —Christianity Today

"Open the book, and whether you are of faith or not, see what Pond came to see: people of faith, enduring to an end we all face. See sign followers seeking only to be obedient to their God. See people believing, loving and caring, backsliding and returning to be baptized again. And yes, dying. See people so human in their failings and need for re-baptism that a common saying among believers (however baptized) is that even the fish know who they are. Pond’s magnificent book will introduce them to you." —Ralph W. Hood, Jr., Reading Religion

"To move through this book is to feel the author unwind herself.  We feel her taking the measure of the space in which her subjects live.  Services that were once photographed as delirious frenzy are now shown as infused with calm, though no less ecstatic.  We get a sense that Pond has arrived somewhere very different than where she sought to go when she began, and it also feels like the beginning of a larger story." —Leo Hsu, Fraction Magazine

"Capturing the true essence of this type of religious phenomenon is delicate. One must balance scene with sensitivity. Pond's work in Test of Faith is a well-blanced blend of both qualities. . . . She invites viewers, through her photography and dialogue, to embark on a journey to understand more deeply the people who take on these acts of faith and who choose to live within a particular lifestyle." —Chelsie Dubay, Journal of Appalachian Studies

"Lauren Pond's beautifully intimate portraits of spiritual yearning and loss should be reminders to all the rest of us that 'feeling after God' is dangerous business and was never intended to be otherwise." — Dennis Covington, author of, Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia

"Mack Wolford and his family are holiness people who take up serpents as a simple act of obedience based upon their understanding of the Gospel of Mark. Lauren Pond's wonderful photos are visual windows into their lives. They may test your own faith. No holiness handler would urge you to violate your own faith. All would urge you simply to pray for, and perhaps, like Lauren, with, those whose faith seems distant from your own." — Ralph W. Hood Jr., Professor of Psychology and LeRoy A. Martin Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga

“Lauren Pond plunges us into the hothouse atmosphere of the Wolfords' faith. Through her photographs, I can almost feel the physical strain of Mack's worship, and I long to hear the song that his mother, Snook, sings as he accompanies her on guitar. Who are these purposeful, vibrant people so different from myself? Test of Faith commands this question and prompts me to consider the basis and limitations of my own worldview.” — Peter Barberie, prize judge and Brodsky Curator of Photographs, Alfred Stieglitz Center, Philadelphia Museum of Art

Permission to Photocopy (coursepacks)

If you are requesting permission to photocopy material for classroom use, please contact the Copyright Clearance Center at copyright.com;

If the Copyright Clearance Center cannot grant permission, you may request permission from our Copyrights & Permissions Manager (use Contact Information listed below).

Permission to Reprint

If you are requesting permission to reprint DUP material (journal or book selection) in another book or in any other format, contact our Copyrights & Permissions Manager (use Contact Information listed below).

Images/Art

Many images/art used in material copyrighted by Duke University Press are controlled, not by the Press, but by the owner of the image. Please check the credit line adjacent to the illustration, as well as the front and back matter of the book for a list of credits. You must obtain permission directly from the owner of the image. Occasionally, Duke University Press controls the rights to maps or other drawings. Please direct permission requests for these images to permissions@dukeupress.edu.
For book covers to accompany reviews, please contact the publicity department.

Subsidiary Rights/Foreign Translations

If you're interested in a Duke University Press book for subsidiary rights/translations, please contact permissions@dukeupress.edu. Include the book title/author, rights sought, and estimated print run.

Disability Requests

Instructions for requesting an electronic text on behalf of a student with disabilities are available here.

Rights & Permissions Contact Information

Email: permissions@dukeupress.edu

Email contact for coursepacks: asstpermissions@dukeupress.edu

Fax: 919-688-4574

Mail:
Duke University Press
Rights and Permissions
905 W. Main Street
Suite 18B
Durham, NC 27701

For all requests please include:

1. Author's name. If book has an editor that is different from the article author, include editor's name also.

2. Title of the journal article or book chapter and title of journal or title of book

3. Page numbers (if excerpting, provide specifics)

For coursepacks, please also note: The number of copies requested, the school and professor requesting

For reprints and subsidiary rights, please also note: Your volume title, publication date, publisher, print run, page count, rights sought