The man wearing the white cassock, who speaks out from the third-floor window of the Vatican Palace and bestows blessings from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica will be the most-photographed person in the world for the duration of his papacy. No one is under such camera surveillance, is so besieged by photographers,
as the pope in office. His every look and gesture are captured. The Pope is followed by a symbolic shadow of dozens
of photographers. The Holy Father is a special challenge for them, because they have
to rise with their spoils above the spectators’ snapshots, demonstrate their special
sight – and press the shutter release when the composition is right.
From Pius IX up to
Benedict XVI – the best, most thought-provoking and at once most atmospheric papal images by great photographers from over a century and a half, from Andy Warholup to Arturo Mari. Brought together in one volume for the first time, these pictures reveal in their totality
a multifaceted portrait of the Holy Fathers.

The man wearing the white cassock, who speaks out from the third-floor window of the Vatican Palace and bestows blessings from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica will be the most-photographed person in the world for the duration of his papacy. No one is under such camera surveillance, is so besieged by photographers,
as the pope in office. His every look and gesture are captured. The Pope is followed by a symbolic shadow of dozens
of photographers. The Holy Father is a special challenge for them, because they have
to rise with their spoils above the spectators’ snapshots, demonstrate their special
sight – and press the shutter release when the composition is right.
From Pius IX up to
Benedict XVI – the best, most thought-provoking and at once most atmospheric papal images by great photographers from over a century and a half, from Andy Warholup to Arturo Mari. Brought together in one volume for the first time, these pictures reveal in their totality
a multifaceted portrait of the Holy Fathers.