Henry IV of France granted religious tolerance to the large Calvanist Protestant population known as Huguenots when he issued the Edict of Nantes in 1598. Louis XIV would reverse that decision when he repealed the Edict in 1685. Fearing prosecution in the predominantly Catholic nation, waves of Huguenots fled the country, many of them sailing to North America. The new colony of Rhode Island, founded under the premise of religious tolerance, was a popular destination.
The historical marker shown in today's photo pays tribute to one of the more prominent Huguenots that ultimately settled in Rhode Island. Gabriel Bernon was instrumental in founding three historically significant Episcopal congregations: St. John's in Providence, Trinity Church in Newport, and St. Paul's in Kingston. Bernon's home in Providence was near the location of this marker in the Roger Williams National Memorial and he is buried beneath St. John's Episcopal Cathedral.
What caught my attention while lining up this shot was two-fold. First, the long shadows and harsh contrast in the original setting captured the bitter feel of the day. Wind chills were in the single digits, and it was just a bitter day. The harsh contrast required no special processing to capture. Second, the marker closely resembles a tombstone, and the contrast of that next to a set of picnic tables really appealed to me.
Post processing started with a cool filter in Topaz B&W FX. I adjusted color sensitivity sliders, followed by adaptive exposure, contrast, boost black, and boost white. In PSE a levels adjustment was added followed by a sepia photo filter.
I think you must have a hidden history teacher somewhere in your soul! Captivating title... I thought it was a tombstone at first... hope we never have to bury our religious freedom here in America.
There's something very poignant about this picture, even before reading the title and the information. The long shadows and a sense of desolation. So cold, so unforgiving, religious intolerance.
