Macy is a familiar and respected figure on the Flagstaff scene, although he avoids the limelight and suspends his ego to reach for the common good. He is a man of many faces -- coffee house entrepreneur, ardent follower of the Baha'i Faith, former professional golfer, devoted parrot owner and serious fine arts photographer.

It is in this last capacity that he has drawn attention and admiration lately. Ten of his images are currently hanging on the walls of Macy's European Coffee House and Bakery, the coffee house he started 23 years ago on South Beaver. Another two, "Hope" and" Equality," were recently hung at New Frontiers Natural Marketplace on South Milton.

Macy works large. Many of the prints on display are 30 x 40 inches. The prints are gallery quality on fiber-base papers. Some are sepia or selenium toned to enhance archival preservation. They were developed with traditional wet processing techniques at Flagstaff's Hidden Light Photographic Printing Lab. Every print is made by hand and each print is unique.

The photographs are stunning both in execution and message. They are carefully staged tableaus designed to deliver specific goals for the human race, such as "Equality," "One Family," "The Universal Child," "Emancipation" and "Life Eternal."

With the exception of "Emancipation," a colorful shot of the world's women dressed in ethnic costumes posed on a fire escape downtown, all the photographs are black and white, captured on Kodak's classic Tri-X 320 ASA sheet film

The inspiration for Macy's photography is the Baha'i Faith, a widespread independent world religion, founded in the middle of the last century by Bah·'u'll·h, a member of one of the great patrician families of

Persia who turned his back on court life, and became known for his generosity and loving kindness toward his countrymen.

Bah·'u'll·h taught that "The Earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."

Baha'Ì communities around the globe work to break down barriers of prejudice between people and promote the model of a global society. The heart of the Baha'i faith is the conviction that humanity is a single people with a common destiny.

"I just want to be a hollow reed," Macy said about his work. "If you empty yourself from all attachments -- ego, whatever -- then you're a perfect conduit for spiritual enlightenment. It's so practical. I would like to teach the faith, the Bahai'i Faith. We're all one. We're all connected. That's what the photographs are all about."

The photographs are for sale, and half of the profits will be donated to a cause that is helping promote world unity.

Macy began photographing in earnest two years ago, and changed equipment as he sharpened his perspective.

"Photography, I'm brand new," he said. "I was very obnoxious at first, taking my camera everywhere, learning the f-stops. I started with 35mm, a Nikon F100. Then I went right to Pentax 67, 6 x 7. Then I heard about this old 8x10 camera a young photographer had for sale."

The 8x10 view camera, pioneered in the 1800s and still used by fine arts photographers and others today, is loaded with 8 x 10 sheet film in a holder. View cameras are basically boxes, with flexible bellows between a viewing screen and a lens plate. Shooting with a view camera is slow, requiring a blackout cloth for viewing, and a mental correction for an image that is both upside down and flopped right to left.

Two photography teachers at Northern Arizona University's School of Communication, Sam Minkler and Gene Balzer, helped Macy learn the ropes of complicated view camera procedures. Peter Rosenthal at PR Camera Repair kept the camera in good working order after several accidents outside.

Macy loves the larger and older camera format. It meshes perfectly with his precise and carefully choreographed style of shooting.

"Now that I'm starting to learn about the technical stuff, the creativity can come through," he said.

Photographic visions come to him through dreams and meditation. He uses Flagstaff backdrops such as train stations, alleys and cemeteries, and prefers moody shadows and dramatic lighting. The models are mostly local personalities.

"It takes me one month or more to put a picture together, from the time I see the vision, to when I actually click the shutter," Macy said. " I love working with that old camera -- you work slowly and compose. I'm old school. I'm so antidigital. It seems more artistic. I love the tonalities of black and white."

Macy would like to make even larger prints. Hidden Light owners Corey Allen and Stephen Saunders, who helped him print his images, may construct custom sinks to accommodate 40 x 50-inch prints.

"I just want to engulf the viewer in the picture," he said. "When it's small, you just don't get the same message. When you have something that big, you can really work with the dodging and burning (manipulation of the amount of light from the enlarger that falls on various areas on enlarging paper)."

Macy has found Flagstaff to be a fertile ground for his life and inspiration. A never-ending stream of interesting faces comes into his coffee house for lattes and cappucinos, each one a potential model in a shot.

Coming through town on a golf tour 30 years ago, Native Californian Macy was attracted to Flagstaff by the quality of light and the starry nights. He returned to stay, and to enrich this town with his inner spiritual vision. He believes in a progressive revelation where people who are happy on the inside reach out with love to create a world aglow with a new spiritual energy, a new force for good.

"The reason these photos are made is to teach the world the potential of oneness," he said. "We can live on this planet as one family. We have to start thinking globally, not just locally. Baha'is believe in the oneness of God, the oneness of religion, the oneness of humanity. That's what these pictures are -- just to let the people know what is possible. People look at them and say, 'It's possible, we can do this!'"

Sitting at a table at Macy's, the owner has a second thought about only getting two visions at a time.

"I lied," he said.

It seems that right now he has five potential images growing in his imagination, each waiting for the right people, the right moment and the right place to be born.