Portfolio #3: Observance and Sacrifice
This body of work explores transformation through the observation of religious experiences with a focus on sacrifice for a perceived higher purpose. This exploration, while inspired in part by myth, culture and religious observance, is intended as introspection on modern western mores and our de-association with both ancient rituals and the animal kingdom, as well as our focus on the individual. The images were taken during the Eid-al-adha, a festival celebrated by Muslims in commemoration of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience. Taken while with two families in Azrou, a Middle Atlas mountain town of Morocco, I found a disturbing balance between the isolation of the animal and the strange beauty in the communal performance of, and connection to, slaughter for a higher purpose.