Easter Service

As a photojournalist I try and keep an open mind and stay as objective as possible, but when I am near fervent believers (especially of the Christian kind) I feel somehow uneasy. Like they have tapped into some kind of spiritual oasis that only the "saved" can pull from and by not knowing a way to tap into it, I am somehow an interloper sent to ruin and mock their celebrations. When in actuality I really respect them for having something they can believe in so strongly without having any real physical evidence of it.

That being said, I got to photograph an Easter play at a local church today, I was immediately hit with the fact that a large portion of the congregation had tattoos, they were in t-shirts, and shorts, and there was a lingering smell of cigarette smoke. Also it became apparent to me that their were many parishioners who were trying to restart their lives after problems with the law.

This was not the normal group of people I have come to know as church goers, they were really there to get closer to god and help themselves get to a better place. It was refreshing to say the least. As far as the photography, the church was poorly lit and I ended up having to use a flash, something I don't love to do. However considering how bad the lighting really was I felt I came away with some fairly good images and a good not uneasy feeling about the people I was sent to photograph.