The Anglo-Ethiopian Society
Launch - Photographic Exhibition - Devotion
Christopher Roche
Thursday 25th June 2015
The Book and Kitchen, 31 All Saints Road, Notting Hill, London W11 1HE.
6:00pm - 10:00pm, Private view and launch party of Christopher Roche's Devotion. Free to attend but RSVP required, please email Book and Kitchen.
Devotion is the new photographic project by Christopher Roche. A project that explores men and women's thirst for spiritual fulfilment around the world.
Chris Roche was born in Quebec, Canada to Irish parents. He has since lived in Africa and several cities around Europe. Dividing his time between working as a film-maker and a photographer. He is now based in London.
His films have won awards internationally (including the Miramax Scriptwriting Award), he has twice been finalist in the Wanderlust Travel Photo of the Year, has won the Wild Frontiers Photo of the Year 2014 and was second place in Sony World Photography 2015 Ireland National Award. His photographs have been published in the national press, exhibited at Royal Geographical Society and at UNESCO in Geneva.
The exhibition features photographs from Chris's series on The Priests and Pilgrims of Ethiopia
Journeying through the northern highlands of Ethiopia, Chris witnesses the magical, holy festivals of Genna in Lalibela and Timket in Gondar, and explores the remote rock-hewn churches of Tigray.
Chris's photography reveals both the intimate and the epic aspects of the Ethiopians' ancient faith, illuminating private moments and monumental landscapes. It is a testament to a tradition now facing the erosive forces of mass tourism and consumerism.
This is a story of legend and adventure: the Queen of Sheba, the Ark of the Covenant, angels and serpents. Above all it is the story of a dignified people and their great spiritual devotion.
A fine art photographic book, The Priests and Pilgrims of Ethiopia, is now on sale.
"This collection of photographs can be valued as an irreplaceable cultural archive and as a body of work with great artistic integrity..." UNESCO.
"...a series of landscapes so dazzling that Claude would have been proud to have invented them. The photographs are not merely striking. Many of them are masterpieces." Author and historian Thomas Pakenham.
The exhibition also features a collection of photographs of the Buddhist Himalayas, covering Chris's journey in 2008 to Spiti Valley, and of Kashi, one of the holiest and oldest cities in the world.
More information can be found on the Book and Kitchen website.