Céline Martin, sister of St. Therese of Lisieux, was a pioneer religious in the art of photography, capturing unique moments of life in the convent and leaving a visual legacy of holiness and devotion.
Newsdesk (12/03/2025 19:58, Gaudium Press) Céline Martin, better known as Sister Genevieve of the Holy Face, was born in 1869; four years older than St. Thérèse of Lisieux, she was her confidante, having privileged access to the secrets of her sister’s heart, to whom Thérèse confided her spiritual discoveries.
Céline was also a fascinating figure in the history of the Carmel of Lisieux, the daughter of saintly parents Louis and Célia Martin. Céline has gone down in history not only for being part of an exemplary family of holiness, but also for her unusual talent for photography, an art unusual among religious women of her time.
She grew up in a deeply religious environment and, throughout her life, excelled in different fields; she had a tenacious spirit, the heart of an artist and the mind of an engineer. ‘I liked making inventions and understanding their mechanism. As I had a sewing machine, I would take it completely apart and, after cleaning every part, put it back together. She also knew how to make it work,’ according to her biography!
Céline, a multifaceted artist
This multi-faceted artist won several prizes in mathematics and developed her talents in different areas, such as painting, electroplating – a process used to give a metallic material a corrosion-resistant coating – and, of course, photography. Not only did she dedicate herself to different fields, but she also demonstrated great skill in each of them.
However, the art of photography, which she developed within the convent, helped the world get to know the spirituality of a cloistered monastery.
After her father’s death, Céline entered the Carmelite convent in Lisieux in 1894, taking the name Sister Genevieve of the Holy Face. In the cloister, her artistic talent was not only recognized, but also welcomed. She was allowed to take a camera with her, something surprising for the time: a 13×18 wooden box with a ‘Darlot’ lens. She used a dry plate process or ‘ferrotype’, a 19th century photographic technique.
The photography process was labour-intensive: thin iron plates were coated with a mixture of collodion and photosensitive silver nitrate, which were then exposed to light. After being instantly developed, fixed and varnished, they resulted in durable and detailed images.
What made Céline unique was that, in addition to her technical skill, she was one of the first people, and the first nun, to capture life inside a convent.
Instead of being an outside observer, as was common for photographers at the time, Céline had direct access to the heart of the Carmelite community. She used her camera to document cloistered life, which was a first in the history of religious photography. Her work offered the world an unprecedented glimpse into the lives of religious women, as well as the daily moments of the Sisters in their service to God.
She also managed to capture remarkable images that remain iconic in the Catholic world. Her ability to set the scene, position her subjects and capture the essence of cloistered life allowed her to create a visual legacy that has endured over the years. The images taken by Céline remain a moving testimony to the life of religious women, their devotion and their spirituality.
A visual legacy of holiness
Among the 41 photographs she took are some of the most representative images of her sister, a Doctor of the Church. Céline captured transcendent moments in the saint’s life, from her entry into the convent to her death.
In addition to her passion for photography, what drove Céline was her deep devotion to Christ. In her writings, she expressed how every occupation, no matter how mundane it seemed, brought her closer to her Creator. For her, beauty in art and everyday life was always a means of elevating her soul to God.
‘From the first moment we seek His kingdom and His justice, He rejoices over us. Even in occupations that didn’t have eternity as their immediate goal, I always gave myself to them with the intention of finding some beauty there that would bring me closer to my Creator. What is more, it wasn’t difficult, everything elevated me to Him, even the things that should naturally have distanced me from Him,’ she wrote.
Céline Martin lived a life dedicated to contemplation, art and prayer. Her legacy as the first female religious photographer is a testimony to how art can be a powerful tool for conveying spiritual beauty and holiness. Today, her photographs not only allow us to get to know cloistered life better, but also invite us to reflect on the intersection between faith, art and devotion.
With information from Religión En Libertad
The post Céline, Sister of St Therese: Pioneer Photographer who Gave a Glimpse into Convent Life appeared first on Gaudium Press.
Compiled by Roberta MacEwan
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