THE CREATION OF
The Project | Meet the Artist
The Story Behind the Project
Seeing Jesus through the eyes of a fashion photographer.
People often picture Jesus as someone who lived over 2,000 years ago so how could He possibly relate to what we’re experiencing in our lives today? After all, the culture is so different.
The answer: His messages are timeless and God’s truth has never changed.
Our prayer is that you will discover Jesus at a deeper level or perhaps for the first time in these photographs, the messages they depict, and the video series that expands those messages. We pray that He will open your eyes to His life as He has opened ours.
The story began with a calling.
Photographer Michael Belk thought he knew how to live on his own with a career that brought great worldly success and acclaim – a life enviable by many. Yet, “The year I made the most and had the most was also the year I was the most miserable. My life had success but not significance. I was happy but not fulfilled. Something was missing.”
The timing was perfect for Michael to have an encounter with God, one that would forever change his life.
Over the next years, God began to nudge Michael to use his camera and creativity, combined with his unique storytelling skills, to show the relevance of Jesus in today’s world. In 2008, Michael answered the call. He began the concept for a collection of photographs picturing 1st century Jesus interacting with 21st century characters — Wall Street executives, Italian fashionistas, Nazi soldiers — all in a 1st century setting…an ancient city in Italy that looks as we might imagine first-century Jerusalem. After a year of planning, production began in Matera at a level of excellence worthy of The King.
As the scope of the project grew, Michael and his wife, Cheryl, agreed to TRIPLE the production budget. They had no warning that the stock and housing markets were about to collapse and would eventually take their life savings with it.
“Suddenly the project became our Journey with the Messiah, a journey in which we would learn to trust in God’s provision since we could no longer trust in our own.”
Jesus said that we should count the costs before following Him.”Perhaps had we known how great the costs would eventually be, we wouldn’t have embarked on this project. Yet, God did not need my photographs, He wanted my heart, and for me to know His and He was pulling out all the stops to make it happen. Now, the reward of knowing Him and being obedient to His call is greater than all the riches in the world.”
As the Apostle Paul said, “All the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life compared to the high privilege of knowing Jesus.” (Philippians 3:8)
God's not finished writing your story.
Most people don’t realize that God has given each of us a story. He began writing yours before you lived a single day and He will continue writing it until the numbered days of your life have been exhausted…when He ushers you into Eternity with Him.
Michael Belk on location in ancient Matera, Italy
MICHAEL BELK
I got my start in fashion working in fine men’s clothing stores in high school and college. By age 23, I landed a prestigious job with a leading men’s clothing brand. Then I discovered photography, and a new passion was born.
What if I could combine my eye for photography with my knowledge of fashion to create “visual sales portfolios” for fashion brands? So throwing caution to the wind at age 28, I left my lucrative job to chase my dream of becoming a fashion photographer in the fashion capital of New York City.
It wasn’t easy, but I persevered, and it paid off! Over time, sales portfolios evolved into my own advertising and marketing agency for brands like J. Crew, Nautica, Talbots, Christian Dior, Calvin Klein, and many more. For more than 30 years, my images appeared in Vogue, Elle, GQ, Vanity Fair, and a host of other publications as I traveled to beautiful and exotic locations in America and beyond. I was on top of my game, living the high life, and the fast-paced, jet-setting lifestyle was addictive.
“Despite my success, something was missing. The year I made the most and had the most was also the year I was most miserable. My journey detoured into a wilderness of despair.”
A wise person once said, “God has this annoying habit of stepping into our lives, even when we have pulled in the welcome mat and bolted the door.”
You see, I grew up in a loving family where church was part of our life, but I wasn’t a follower of Jesus. In fact, I didn’t know much about Him.
I had been doing life on my own terms all this time until God met me in my wilderness and brought His Son Jesus with Him. It was a meeting that changed my life forever!
In 2008, sensing God’s prompting and with my wife’s blessings, I traded my glamorous globe-trotting lifestyle of success for a “mission of significance”—bringing Jesus Christ to life through the lens of my camera. My vision was to show 1st century Jesus interacting with 21st century people from all walks of life, sharing the lessons and life instructions He came to give us. The result is the compelling collection of fine art photography known as Journeys with the Messiah.
This project was an enormous undertaking and has truly been the most difficult, yet most rewarding journey of my life.
I believe it can change yours, too.
