Jim Grover exhibition pairs Victorian Bible
Photographer Jim Grover's exhibition 'Drawn into Your Presence' opens at St James' Church, Clapham, pairing his black-and-white photos of modern church
A 150-year-old family Bible discovered in a south London church has inspired a new photography exhibition. Photographer and churchwarden Jim Grover found the 1870 Imperial Family Bible in the vestry of St James' Church in Clapham, leading to the exhibition 'Drawn into Your Presence' opening this autumn.
The massive Bible weighs 9.5kg and spans 1,368 pages. Grover was struck by the 73 steel-plate engravings inside, which reproduce famous biblical paintings by Renaissance artists like Titian, Raphael, and Leonardo da Vinci. Twenty of the original paintings are held in major galleries including the Louvre and the Vatican. 'I was in awe of these beautiful engravings,' Grover told Amateur Photographer. He noted that photographing and enlarging them revealed the 'stunning and detailed work' of the engravers.
From discovery to dialogue
Grover selected thirty engravings from the Bible. He paired them with thirty of his own black-and-white photographs, most taken over the past decade documenting contemporary church ministry and community life in south London. His wife, Ruth, curated the photograph selections and pairings. The connections between a modern photo and a Victorian engraaving are sometimes immediate. In other cases, the relationship is left more open to interpretation.
This creates a visual conversation across centuries. Renaissance paintings were first translated into Victorian engravings. Now, those engravings are enlarged through contemporary photography and placed alongside Grover's images. This process allows historical narratives to resonate with the lives of people in south London today.
The Bible's hidden story
Grover's investigation into the Bible's origins uncovered a family saga. The Bible's Family Register recorded the marriage of Samuel Relf and Louisa Burton at St James' on 24 April 1872. Their initials are also engraved on a brass buckle on the volume. Louisa appeared to come from a prosperous background. Samuel, however, experienced family tragedies as a teenager and later had a 'colourful adult life dotted by failed business ventures and brushes with the law.'
Grover describes the Relf family story as 'spellbinding.' For the exhibition, this history becomes part of a broader reflection on memory, faith, and how images travel through time.
The act of transformation
At the exhibition's heart is the transformation of images. Grover's photographic enlargements reveal the extraordinary intricacy of the engravers' work, showing the tiny lines and marks used to translate paintings into a new medium.
The exhibition does not merely reproduce historic images or place old and new side by side. It explores what happens when images made in radically different periods for different audiences are brought into conversation. Faith and ministry are recurring subjects in Grover's work. This exhibition brings a new selection of his photographs into dialogue with the Victorian engravings.
A series of returns
The exhibition represents a remarkable chain of returns. Paintings made centuries ago became Victorian engravings. Those engravings are now enlarged and placed beside contemporary photographs. Also, the Bible itself has completed a circular journey, returning to St James' Church where the Relfs were married over 150 years ago. The couple's story, preserved in the Family Register, and the Bible's images have been given a new life through Grover's chance discovery and photographic work.
'Drawn into Your Presence' runs from September 16th to October 18th at St James' Church in Clapham. Admission is free.
