Noema | In 1961, in the small Spanish village of San Sebastian de Garabandal, four young girls had an apparition of the Virgin Mary. They entered a state of ecstasy in which they became completely unaware of their surroundings and sensory perceptions. Reportedly, witnesses would pinch the girls, pierce their skin with needles, lift them up and drop them onto rough rocks, and yet they remained entranced. The light and presence of the Virgin is all they claim to have experienced. Twenty years later, in the town of Medjugorje, Bosnia & Herzegovina, six children also had simultaneous visions of the Virgin, with similar ecstatic qualities.

Noema is a body of work that investigates the aura of place and religious experience by searching for signs of the Virgin Mary’s presence in these two locations. Alongside original photographs made at both sites, Noema also includes large-scale images that have been appropriated from video footage of the visionaries taken during their apparitions.

These emphasise the impenetrability of the individual religious and phenomenological experience, and speaks to the separation between what is apparently being seen and what is photographable.

Michael Swann is a photographic artist based in Bristol (UK). In 2020 he was selected as one of BJP’s Ones to Watch and nominated for the Futures Photography talent platform. Michael’s first book, Noema was published in 2024 by Kult Books.

Michael’s latest body of work, An Ascension, explores themes of hope, love, queerness and the influence of catholicism through his engagement to his same-sex partner. His previous body of work, Noema, follows the search for the presence of the Virgin Mary in two locations in which she has reportedly been seen. Michael is also currently working on a collaborative project, Compost, with photographer Phillipa Klaiber, that explores the central themes of Queer Ecology.

All Images © Michael Swann