There are thousands of paintings of Jesus Christ, and hundreds of men have portrayed Jesus in films, plays and religious pageants. There are relatively fewer photographic depictions of the man believed by Christians to be the Son of God, which is one of the many factors that convinced photographer Mark Mabry to create the photographs compiled in "Reflections of Christ," a traveling photo exhibition that opened at BYU Bookstore on Tuesday and will remain on display during store hours through Monday.

Back before the project had really taken shape in his head, Mabry, 31, used the Web search engine Google to try to find other photography collections that depict moments from the life of Christ. "There was nothing," he said.

After several years' involvement in professional photography -- his specialty is family and commercial portraiture -- Mabry experienced a series of spiritual awakenings (described in detail in the preface to the hardcover book version of "Reflections of Christ") and decided that he wanted to take on a project that would encourage his renewed interest in religion.

"After a bunch of changes in my life, it just felt natural," said Mabry, who is a married father of three and former proselytizing missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (He served in St. Petersburg, Russia.)

"Reflections of Christ" was undertaken as a personal artistic endeavor and church assignment in connection with the Mesa Arizona Easter Pageant, held each year at Easter at the LDS temple in Mabry's hometown of Mesa, Ariz. Although the project eventually took on a life of its own, Mabry said, the photographs were initially taken to help publicize the pageant, which provided costumes and some cast members.

The actor who appears as Jesus in the photos is Robert Allen, a resident of Queen Creek, Ariz., who has portrayed Christ in the Mesa pageant several times. Other actors were chosen somewhat at random, mostly depending on whether or not they had the right "aura," as Mabry put it. The actors, he said, "all reflect knowing Christ in some way. I would look for people who I knew carried that."

The experience was moving to many of the participants. In the book version of "Reflections of Christ," actor Dirk Cline, cast as a blind man healed by Jesus, remembers being moved to tears by his photo shoot: "After the final picture was taken, and I was driving down the dirt road, leaving the location, I began to weep. I pondered the life of Jesus. I marveled at how real my experience felt."

Mabry said that he's been astonished at how popular "Reflections of Christ" has become, and how quickly it's happened -- the photos were shot in late 2007 and publicly exhibited for the first time at the Mesa Arizona Temple Visitors' Center in January, February, March and April. "It's really been life changing," he said.

If you go

"Reflections of Christ" Photography Exhibit

When: Daily through Monday, 7:50 a.m.-8 p.m. (10 a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturday)

Where: BYU Bookstore, Ernest L. Wilkinson Student Center, Brigham Young University

Cost: Free

Info: www.reflectionsofchrist.org