This book grew out of a curiosity to understand what monasticism meant. To try and unravel the mystique of monastic life, the enigmatic otherness of monks, and in particular that of the legendary Trappists. Something like a fortress surrounds someone who has faith, it is an impenetrable conviction, but in spite of this my questions continued to grow. In particular, still, who is a monk? For those who hear the call to monastic life the ultimate desire is to concentrate on their faith. Their decision holds secrets and in them lies a poetic mystery. Made on black and white film, and including landscape scenes and semi-transparent images of woods interspersed as symbols of the outside world, the photographs in White Monks: A Life in Shadows offer an intimate glimpse, rarely seen by others, into an ancient way of life that is slowly disappearing; a testament to lives devoted to spiritual service, in extraordinary counterpoint to the modern world.