Faces of Faith. Daniel Kramer.
Why are we here and where are we going? When I was a child, my religion told me that if you were not a Christian, then, ha ha, you were going to hell. That didn’t feel right to me and I put Religion away with Santa and the Easter Bunny. Later in life, as a 20-something slacker, photography and spirituality came to me at the same time, one allowing the exploration of the other. This 20-year essay is the chronological result of those explorations.
In this life, I was born in the frozen tundra of Green Bay, Wisconsin. Frozen tundra is of course redundant but so it goes. I was raised in the Lutheran tradition and after Catechism class, my Pastor pulled me aside and told me he thought I should consider becoming a Pastor. I guess he hadn’t seen me reading comic books during his sermons.
Tahnia Roberts. The Ngaben (Cremation rite).
The Ngaben (cremation rite) is a sacred right of passage in Bali, and a great time for celebration. The Hindu-Balinese believe the body is impure, a temporary shell, having no significance at all, except as a container of the soul and its anchor to the earth. All thoughts at the time of death are concentrated upon the spirit and its passage to heaven. The body is just there to be disposed of, and, instead of grieving, the Balinese prefer to throw a great celebration, in the process hastening their dead friend’s soul to oneness with god. I was invited by the family to join the celebration of Mr A.A. Mangkling’s life, festivities and rituals including nyiramin layon – bathing of the body, the procession, the last sacrifice and finally the releasing of the spirit to the sea.
Jeremy Shutton-Hibbert. A woman and child stand outside their home in the Roma camp of Sintesti, near Bucharest, Romania, in August 1994.
Larry Louie. Tenger Horseman, Mt Bromo, Indonesia.
What story from your travels has amazed you the most?
As I told you earlier I just recently got back from an area call Humla, Nepal. It is on the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains in Northwestern Nepal. We were operating a 3 day eye camp there with Seva Canada. Being in the Himalayas, the scenery was spectacular, the air was so fresh that it actually tasted sweet with every labored breath I took (the altitude was quite high). The area has an airstrip on the edge of the mountain that has just recently been tarred. After you get off the plane, that is it - no electricity, no cars, no running water. It’s like being dropped off back in the 1700’s. Some people had walked 4 days and over mountains to reach us and others carried their children or elderly for days to come to our camp. That is not the amazing part - the amazing part is the hospital that is up there and their local doctor - Dr. Yeshe. Dr. Yeshe is from Humla, received his medical education from India through the generosity of a businessman/trekker from Hong Kong. Instead of setting up a cushy practice in India, he decided to return to help his people. He is the only doctor up there and a maverick in his profession doing everything from dental to obstetrics to minor surgery with limited supplies and medication. With the help of Citta USA (another non-government organization), they built a hospital up there about 8 years ago and recently through a Canadian donor, a surgical/maternity building was added on. The people in the area have outside contact for about 6-8 months of the year before they get snowed in. Dr. Yeshe lives among them, and stays put during the winter time where he said that it is the time that they need him the most. With Dr. Yeshe, and the hospital, many many lives have been saved, from local children to foolish foreigners. It is his work and the work of the organization behind him that amazes me.
In your series of photos about Khumbu’s region in Nepal, I can see that you often leave a lot of space around the people in your photos, showing the hostile environment in which they live and how nature dominates humans. Was it difficult to work in those conditions?
It was very difficult for me, physically. The altitude was the main difficulty. I was working at up to about 5500 meters, and that is very hard going for someone who spends most of the time at sea level, like me. Carrying a camera backpack and trekking along steep trails at that altitude is a 100% effort, and you have to remember to take pictures too.
The people who live in this region are superbly adapted to it, and are some of the toughest people on earth. The environment, the weather and other natural factors shape the people and how they live. Also it brings a certain simplicity to their lives. There is no way of people dominating and shaping the environment to suit them in this region, as they have done in other parts of the world, it is simply too extreme.
In the Fall of 2011, I attended bodybuilding competitions in Central Texas in order to document the athletes as well as show a behind-the-scenes look at their preparations. My goal was to learn what type of mental and physical preparation it took in order to compete in the world of female bodybuilding. The competitors photographed in this essay are amateurs, meaning that they were competing to earn a spot on the pro tour and ultimately compete for prize money. The actual competition is a series of one minute stage appearances in which the women must pose in front of a panel of judges. The athletes are scored on how well they pose, their musculature, and their overall appearance.
German Gutierrez. Be close enough.
In India I searched for the true essence of that country. I found nothing promised, no mysticism, religion, colour …. I found prostitution, drugs, money, poverty, death, and monsters, lots of monsters. For a month I visited brothels, I met drugs dealers, I spoke with junkies, and I witnessed through my camera and in front of the fire, many of the facets of India’s hidden world.
Another example is Cambodia. Thanks to a partnership that helps families who live and work in a landfills, I visit the area, saw how they lived, talked with them, dined with them, and finally to make some pictures. Photos that I could not have done otherwise,without having been so close. Physically and mentally.
Daniel Kramer. Faces of Faith.
Why are we here and where are we going? When I was a child, my religion told me that if you were not a Christian, then, ha ha, you were going to hell. That didn’t feel right to me and I put Religion away with Santa and the Easter Bunny. Later in life, as a 20-something slacker, photography and spirituality came to me at the same time, one allowing the exploration of the other. This 20-year essay is the chronological result of those explorations.
In this life, I was born in the frozen tundra of Green Bay, Wisconsin. Frozen tundra is of course redundant but so it goes. I was raised in the Lutheran tradition and after Catechism class, my Pastor pulled me aside and told me he thought I should consider becoming a Pastor. I guess he hadn’t seen me reading comic books during his sermons.
I wasn’t much interested in religion or spirituality until a rugby teammate at the University of Minnesota gave me a copy of one of Carlos Castaneda’s books as a graduation gift. Just about the same time I had my first feature story – which I wrote and photographed - printed in the school newspaper, The Minnesota Daily.
The first photo in this essay was made in 1990 in the Badlands of South Dakota. Castaneda was on the nightstand and in my mind when I bought a six-pack and headed out to make some of my first shots on slide film. After about 4 hours alone, at night, in the Badlands I felt this ominous, foreboding presence coming toward me. I ran back to my jeep, threw my stuff in - I remember not taking my camera off my tripod - and took off feeling like I needed to keep my head down.
Gil Lavi. Christian godhood - The Holy Sepulchre and the Ethiopian Church.
The quest for searching for the power of Christian religion via photos led me to the Old City of Jerusalem. The experience began with the opening of the two heavy doors of the church of the Holy Sepulcher and the dramatic, charismatic look in the archbishop’s eyes as he exited through the doors and I pressed the shutter button. The candles in the Ethiopian church above added to the mystery. Every photo became a spell.
Source: gillavi.com
