Confessionals in the Italian church. Photographer Marcella Hakbardt

• confessionals in the Italian church. Photographer Marcella Hakbardt

Confessionals or konfessionaly - it's a special place in any Catholic church. Photographer Marcella Hakbardt (Marcella Hackbardt) devoted their whole project. She sees them as not only an element of architectural decoration, but also the personification of some fundamental human need that goes beyond any religious dogma. It is "a powerful metaphor for the self-perception and examination of conscience," says the photographer.

Marcella Hakbardt teaches art at Kenyon College. In 2014 she led the program, under which spent four months in Rome with college students. At this time she took a photo of the confession in the Basilica of Santa Sabina. Next fall Marcella came back and visited more than 50 churches across the country.

Hakbardt was raised a Catholic but stopped going to church as a child. Now she looks at confession with newfound curiosity. The idea of repentance is not particularly popular in our society, but it thrives in the church. Man is able to clear the conscience, sin survive and move on.

Confessionals in the Italian church. Photographer Marcella Hakbardt

Basilica of Santo Spirito, Florence, 2015.

Basilica of Santa Sabina on the top of the Aventine in Rome 2014.

Choosing the confessional for the photo project, Hakbardt sought to diversity. It assesses the details - the color curtains or wooden frame. However, it can be difficult to remove. In Rome, Marcella often faced with crowding parishioners. low light appeared in some buildings. And in several cases, it had to take pictures from the middle of the pews because of lack of space.

Basilica di San Domenico, Bologna 2015.

Basilica of San Marco, Florence, 2015.

Hakbardt mainly photographed empty konfessionaly. But she talked with many people going to confession, which helped it to penetrate deep understanding and respect for tradition. Marcella Hakbardt and she went to confession when she was 8 years old. It was her first communion, but it did not go very well.

"You need to repent of three sins, but I did not have them. So I said stole the ball from his brother and deceived his mother. When I came out of the confessional, then sat for a long time even in the church, apologizing to God for having lied in the temple. It was my first transgression, I can think of ", - said the photographer.