The Feast of The Epiphany

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The Feast of the Epiphany is the celebration of Christ’s baptism in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. Every year one day in January thousands of Greek, Russian and African Orthodox Christians go to the Jordan River to take part in this celebration in the West Bank, Israel.

I came with a few friends, also photographers, to the location where the action takes place; Qasr el Yahud – that translates from Arabic to “The Jews Castle”.

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The day of the event was split to two parts. From the early morning until afternoon Greek and Russian Orthodox participated to the act of immersion into the cloudy water of the Jordan River. The first part of the day is very dramatic, sad and even oppressive.

The second part of the day filled the quiet valley with the rhythmic music and singing of African Orthodox Christians. Several groups with different music, non-monotonic singing and multicoloured clothes presented the Eritrean and Ethiopian Orthodox Churches. It was a cheerful party when no one can stay untouched by the rhythm of the drums and chanting.

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The only one detail that has upset me was the amount of photographers (I mean people with all kinds of shooting devices). Documenting The Feast was quite difficult for this reason. The praying, singing and dancing must not have been so easy with all the massive clicks around. For this reason I skipped the Epiphany-2015 event.

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Victor Bezrukov is an unplugged freelance photographer, IT specialist and information security consultant, based in Israel.

“I was involved into photography by my son in 2005 and unconventionally moved from digital to Analog photography.

Today I use both formats and have even started to developing BW film at home. My interests in photography could be described as “under construction” – i’m still searching what i love to photograph. Black and White, Street, Miksang, Portraits, Landscapes and experiments with different gear. I love to bring some dramatic look to my works. Contrasts, geometry, sometimes emptiness and melancholy are my best friends in this mission.

The best advice that I can give to anyone who asks me is “Follow the light !!!”

Check out Victor’s portfolio here: victorbezrukov.com, on ello here victorbezrukov and on G+ here +VictorBezrukov/posts.

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