Come All Ye Faithful

Pizarro, who once worked as a photojournalist with a newspaper in his hometown of Barcelona, Spain, has been travelling since 2010 for The Believers Project, only a portion of which we see in the exhibition. Currently based out of Delhi, Pizarro aims to document religious communities in 10 countries across four continents through his project.

Explaining the reason for presenting the photographs in black and white, the 29-year-old says, “Besides being an aesthetic touch, I wanted to represent religion in its own colours — the contrasting light and dark, the black and white. It lends an air of magic to something which rules our subconscious minds.”

In his India section, Pizarro’s massive photo project is titled The Sacred Babas of India, and documents his time in Allahabad during the Maha Kumbh Mela. Though the focus is on the holy men who are at the centre of the Kumbh Mela, the images also show women holding children and men laden with bags, standing in queues on packed footbridges over the confluence of the Ganga and the Yamuna. “I spent over a month covering the Maha Kumbh, and then I went to the after party in Benaras with the Babas,” says Pizarro.

The pictures taken in Poland, along the border shared with Belarus, primarily are of the events surrounding the Holy Mount of Grabarka, known for forest of crosses that keeps growing every year.

The exhibition  is on at Instituto Cervantes till April 30.
Contact: 4368 1907