Photographer depicts 21st century Jesus to share lessons for today

For three decades, fashion photographer Michael Belk focused his lens on the beautiful people.

The Florida native's work appeared in high-profile magazines, gracing the pages of Vogue, Elle, GQ and Vanity Fair. Clients included designers from Calvin Klein to J. Crew. His life was fast-paced and full-speed ahead.

"If I wasn't in a plane flying somewhere every week, I wouldn't know what to do with myself," he recalls. "The pace became a drug. I lived for it, thrived on it."

Despite the fame, the money and the success, Belk felt empty. He hadn't nurtured or grown in the Christian faith he knew as a child growing up in Ocala. As he began seeking a reconnection with that spiritual foundation, his professional life took a drastic turn.

In early 2008, he told his wife: "I would hate to face my maker one day and not show him how I used the talent he gave me for something more meaningful, something that benefited him."

And so Belk's second life began.

He's the author and photographer of "Journeys with the Messiah," a coffee-table book and multi-media presentation of sepia photographs depicting Jesus in contemporary settings and show how his teachings still matter in today's world.

After extensive research, Belk selected the ancient Italian village of Matera as the location to construct the images - the same place that Mel Gibson went to film "The Passion of the Christ." He found a Jesus who looks right out of Hollywood casting, Italian model Sergio Muniz, and worked with more than 100 extras. With a production crew from Rome and a film crew from the United States, Belk went to work shooting fine-art photographs that deliver Christ's message from 2,000 years ago.

Belk, 62, tackled modern-day topics with his Jesus: financial stress, addiction, infertility genocide, poverty, materialism, hypocrisy. Models portray Nazis, prostitutes and Wall Street executives. Forget the donkeys; this journey rides Ferraris and motorcycles.

Each photograph tells a story, and includes a Scripture and commentary by Belk on how it relates to the dilemmas and issues we face in our everyday lives. One of my favorites is Jesus observing a funeral procession, with somber pallbearers carrying a casket through a field. Look closely and you'll see coins spilling out from an opening in the coffin. The message: You can't take it with you.

"Jesus knew that money would be a stumbling block for everyone. That is why He talked more about money and possessions than He did of heaven and hell," Belk writes. "He never said that money was evil, only that it could become the master we serve, when we should be serving Him, the One who offers the greatest gift of all."

Belk funded most of the 18-month project himself, living off savings and profits from his now-closed gallery in Santa Rosa Beach in North Florida, where he and his wife Cheryl live. He won't disclose how much this project cost him, only that it was a "substantial" sum.

But he has no regrets.

"This by far is the most satisfying project I've ever undertaken," Belk says. "For me and Cheryl, this has actually become our journey with the Messiah. Our faith has grown by leaps and bounds."

He's just launched a speaking tour to deliver an audio/visual presentation of the images and a behind-the-scenes commentary on creating the photographs. He doesn't charge for a booking, but will use the events as an opportunity to sell the books, DVDs, posters and fine art connected to the project. For more information, go to TheJourneysProject.com, or call (850) 231-6050.

Also in the works: A possible documentary for television and television series; he's in talks with several directors. By the end of the year, he hopes to return to Italy to shoot volume two.

Some of the proceeds from "Journeys with the Messiah" will go toward a nonprofit Belk created called With All That I Gave You Foundation. Its main mission is to help fund worldwide relief efforts that aid children.

Belk knows he's in such a different place this Easter season than when he was at the top of his game as a fashion photographer. That empty feeling has been replaced by a sense of purpose and meaning. He hopes audiences who see the presentations or read the book will come to know what he discovered on his journey.

"Our lives should not revolve around ourselves, but rather around others. What should be most important in our lives is our relationship with God, our families and our friends," he says. "It's what Christ told us 2,000 years ago, and it's still relevant today."