Saint Obama

Minutes after I filed my pictures I got an instant message from Preston on the picture desk. “Did you buy one?” Preston was referring to the religious style votive candles with an image of Barack Obama’s face on the body of St. Martin de Porres. Shortly after, I started to get messages about people wanting me to buy them for them.

The 10 inch candles have been flying off the shelves at a Noe Valley novelty shop and at the same time have angered local religious leaders. The folks at the St. Philip the Apostle Church see it as sacrilegious. Most people see it as just a funny candle.
It is kind of an interesting story about how these candles came to be. A local realtor was struggling to make ends meet and decided to enroll in a graphic design class. After learning a few tricks he came up with the candle design. Since December, the “Just For Fun” store in San Francisco has sold over 1,000 of the candles at $12.95 a pop. There is also a two foot tall option that retails for $395. They have yet to sell one of those.