I had the opportunity to photograph an acquaintance who made the decision to join a cloistered order of nuns. Following the life of an enclosed religious order is unbelievably challenging in that, 20 hours a day, they are praying, gardening, cooking, cleaning or otherwise meditating on god. They have little contact with the outside world with the exception of doctor visits etc. and very very rare visits from family and friends. The particular interest for me was the idea of her simultaneously going towards and running away from something. On one hand there is a beauty to their rigor and on the other it can seem cultish. I do not know what pushed her to make such a drastic decision, and indeed I found out that she ended up leaving the order a year later. Though I am not in any way religious, I very much admire their practice of thinking of god every moment of every day, and see parallels with my relationship to photography, and found this type of continual meditation inspiring. These images are not specific to this individual, but instead deals with a look at the monastery life in general.