honorable mention
Mattia Passarini italy
title
Namaste' Babaji
During my stay I spent eight days in the same place from morning to evening to photograph the Holi people and pilgrims passing by trying to capture their unique way to be part of the festival.
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entry description
Kumbh Mela is a mass Hindu pilgrimage of faith in which Hindus gather to bathe in a sacred river. It is considered to be the largest peaceful gathering in the world where around 30 million people were expected to visit during the Kumbh Mela in 2015 in Nashik. It is held every third year at one of the four places by rotation: Haridwar, Allahabad (Prayaga), Nashik and Ujjain. Thus the Kumbh Mela is held at each of these four places every twelfth year. The pilgrimage is held for about one and a half months at each of these four places: it is believed in Hinduism that drops of nectar fell from the kumbh carried by gods after the sea was churned. Bathing in these rivers is thought to cleanse a person of all sins. The festival is billed as the "world’s largest congregation of religious pilgrims".During my stay I spent eight days in the same place from morning to evening to photograph the Holi people and pilgrims passing by trying to capture their unique way to be part of the festival.
about the photographer
I am an Italian photographer living in China. My great passion for indigenous people and tribes as well as different ethnic groups leads me to travel to the most neglected Asiatic countryside areas and capture people’s traditions and culture before these disappear. In recent years I have focused my research on their varieties, locations, habits and especially on their visible distinguishing features, which they express through body tattoo and body modifications.back to gallery
