honorable mention
Raffaele Luongo italy
Photo © Raffaele Luongo
title
"Guardia Sanframondi: Rites of the Assumption"
Permeated with an incredible faith, they await the arrival of the static pictures that depict the “mysteries”, that is scenes from the new and the old Testament, lives of the saints and the history of the Church.
But faith is mixed with the legitimate curiosity that arises during the procession parade the “disciplines” and “knockers”, that is hooded men and women who through penitence beat with chains or beat their chest with a “sponge” covered with thin nails until it bleeds, to expiate not only their faults, but those of the whole world.
The popular Pietas is tangible, true, despite the “tourist” influx of the faithful, and this renders such rites filled with an immortal charm.
Passionate about ethno – anthropology, he has made several reportages on the popular and religious traditions of Basilicata and southern Italy, with whom he participated in several national and international contests.
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entry description
Confined in narrow spaces, piled on each other on the sidewalks, dripping with sweat, patiently immobile: this is how the faithful appear during the Rites of the Assumption, rituals that are repeated every seven years since 1620 at Guardia Sanframondi, near Benevento .Permeated with an incredible faith, they await the arrival of the static pictures that depict the “mysteries”, that is scenes from the new and the old Testament, lives of the saints and the history of the Church.
But faith is mixed with the legitimate curiosity that arises during the procession parade the “disciplines” and “knockers”, that is hooded men and women who through penitence beat with chains or beat their chest with a “sponge” covered with thin nails until it bleeds, to expiate not only their faults, but those of the whole world.
The popular Pietas is tangible, true, despite the “tourist” influx of the faithful, and this renders such rites filled with an immortal charm.
about the photographer
Raffaele Luongo is a geologist, musician and photographer.Passionate about ethno – anthropology, he has made several reportages on the popular and religious traditions of Basilicata and southern Italy, with whom he participated in several national and international contests.
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