Faith Rising A personal project.

With its rich cultural diversity, South Africa 's religious and spiritual traditions reflect its diversity in a country grappling with massive challenges on the economic, socio-political and traditional levels.

From the debilitating effect of the Corona Virus Pandemic and its associated national lockdown to 33% unemployment, one of the world's highest murder and crime rates, and from widespread corruption at state level to continued racial divisions, the countries spiritually connected are turning to their God's and spirit guides to find a way forward.

As a photographer, my interest in my countries religious history led me into the houses, churches and temples of many South African's practicing their form of religious or spiritual beliefs.

Sparked by my own 'spiritual awakening'; my journey to understand and document South Africa's spiritual soul made me realize how interconnected South Africa's history, politics and societies fabric is interconnected with spiritual practice.

These images are an intimate and personal document of people in the moment that they are talking to their God's, ancestors, and spiritual guides.

God / Buddha / Great spirit / Allah / Jesus / Holly Ghost

Members of a United Apostolic Church pray on a hill overlooking Hillbrow in Johannesburg, South Africa, 30 June 2013. Churches all over the country prayed for the health of former president Nelson Mandela who remains in a Pretoria hospital after a recurrence of a long standing lung infection.

Some of the thousands of farmers pray during a march to the Union Buildings calling for action to be taken against the high number of farmers murdered in the country, Pretoria, South Africa, 10 October 2020. The organization United Against Farm Murders called the protest after the recently highly published murder of young farm manager Brendin Horner by alleged stock thieves. Farmers are murdered at a higher rate than the average murder rate in South Africa.

Local Alex township resident and yoga teacher, Dipuo Smith, stands with her hands in the prayer position amongst the shacks that are the normal for most people living in the township in Johannesburg, South Africa, 17 January 2018. Dipuo is one of five new local African yoga teachers who are being taught by the NGO Yoga4Alex that is bringing the ancient India spiritual practice of Kundalini Yoga to the school children of this impoverished area of the city. She hopes one day to start her own yoga studio in Alex and is also aiming to help the elderly township residents with her yoga knowledge. Alexandra township or 'Alex' as it is known to dwellers in the urban living area - is one of the main townships on the edges of the capital and was built in the early 1900s to house non-white residents.

Reverend Booysen prays as he reads his bible in his empty church in Graaff Reinet, South Africa, 13 June 2020. The majority of people in the district are Christian, and due to the safety issues around gathering at churches, most churches are not open. Reverend Booysen shares his sermons on Sundays via WhatsApp to his 800-strong congregation.
In the barren expanses of the Karoo (Great dry land) in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, a perfect storm of circumstances has had a major and devastating effect on the local people. Three months of Covid-19 coronavirus lockdown, a harsh seven-year drought, and the ongoing impact of the general economic slowdown over the past years along with an ill-prepared local and provincial government have left the vast majority of the lo

Some hundreds of people dance to music played through wireless headsets at the Secret Sunrise dance session in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa, 05 December 2018. The popular movement has become very popular with the city's residents, who dance from 6am to 7am prior to going to work. The session includes yoga from 5am to 6am and then one hour of led dance using wireless headsets. The venue changes from session to session and is all co-ordinated via social media.

Widow Colette Leslie (46) and her two children, Curtley (L) and Adreulishe (R), pray at the graveside of their late father, Captain Andrew Leslie, in Middleburg, South Africa, 14 June 2020. Captain Leslie died with the Covid-19 coronavirus a month earlier and was the first victim of the virus in the town. He was acting station commander of the local police station. Many of the people in the district infected with the coronavirus are front line workers.
In the barren expanses of the Karoo (Great dry land) in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, a perfect storm of circumstances has had a major and devastating effect on the local people. Three months of Covid-19 coronavirus lockdown, a harsh seven-year drought, and the ongoing impact of the general economic slowdown over the past years along with an ill-prepared local and provincial government have left the vast majority of the local people under financial, physical and spiritual pressure.

A Sangoma, traditional healer lights mpepo herb so as to ward away evil spirits while president Jacob Zuma on the morning of the judgment regarding his trial for rape charges at the Johannesburg High Court, Johannesburg, South Africa, Monday, 08 May 2006. There are an estimated 250 000 sangoma, or or spirit world diviner, in South Africa. They fulfill different social and political roles in the community, including divination, healing physical, emotional and spiritual illnesses, directing birth or death rituals, finding lost cattle, protecting warriors, counteracting witches, and narrating the history, cosmology, and myths of their tradition.

A festival participant and Shaman meditates on a rock during the annual Splashy Fen music festival in Underberg, South Africa, 18 April 2019. The five day long festival is the oldest in the country and is celebrating its 30 year. The festival has four stages with various music styles, morning yoga sessions, artworks, trail running, holistic lifestyle events, stalls etc.

Muslim worshipers pray in the Nizamiye Mosque after breaking fast at the end of the first day of Ramadan, Johannesburg, South Africa, 07 June 2016. The mosque, financed and build by a Turkish businessman is styled on the Blue Mosque in Istandbul.

'Sangoma' initiate Dipuo Banda (L) has the blood from a slaughtered chicken and nearby goat sprayed over her as part of her 3 day initiation ceremony with her teacher, family, friends and students in the Alexandra Township in Johannesburg, South Africa, 14 May 2021 (issued 15 May 2021). Sangomas, the Zulu term for Medicine Women or traditional healers, fulfill different social and political roles in the community, including divination, physical healing, emotional and spiritual illnesses, directing birth or death rituals and finding lost cattle.

A man prays as he stands amongst thousands of people during the mass church service held by the Universal Church of God at the Ellis Park Stadium, in Johannesburg, South Africa, 14 April 2017. The church started in Brazil and has branches globally and celebrated its 40th year in South Africa. The service in the rugby stadium is attended by worshipers from various church groups in the province.

'Burners' look into each others eyes and hug each other during the 'Love Ceremony' as part of the annual Afrika Burn festival in the Tankwa Karoo, Ceres, South Africa, 27 April 2016. The festival; an official regional event of Burning Man in the United States; includes various spiritual ceremonies during the week long gathering. This ceremony was held to help Burners love each other and included couples as well as total strangers.

Homeless man Lwando Tyida (31) prays to God for help in his situation at a homeless shelter on day 10 of the 21 day national lockdown following President Cyril Ramaphosa declaration of a National Disaster as a result of Covid-19 Coronavirus, Pretoria, South Africa, 06 April 2020. There are an estimated 10 000 homeless in Pretoria area. Various shelters have been set up ranging from sports grounds to a municipal hall. The national lockdown declared by President Ramaphosa on 23 March 2020 will start Thursday 26 March 2020 at midnight and continue for 21 days.

Donovon prays in his tiny three square 'room' in one of the cities most notorious 'dark buildings' in downtown, Johannesburg, South Africa, 12 August 2015. The eleven story block of flats, formally owned by Chinese business owners, has had no power, lights, water or sanitation for eight years and is a massive health risk. The entire lift shaft is piled up with litter, human waste and urine. The building is home to homeless people, migrants, drug dealers and street workers. It serves as a continuos home for hundreds and a half way house for those immigrants arriving in South Africa and needing a first room to stay in. The building is one of hundreds in the city that are hijacked by criminal tenants and effectively stolen from their legal owners.

Some of the estimated 500 people sit together during a Super Moon mediation in Johannesburg, South Africa, 14 November 2016. The local yoga community gathered to pay homage to the super moon by holding a free yoga and meditation at a sports field. Full moon is often used as a time to let go of issues in ones life during the meditation. The moon is the largest full moon since 1948 also known as the 'supermoon,' when the moon reaches its closest point to Earth. The next time the moon will be this close will be on 25 November 2034.

A lone Catholic believer kneels for prayers prior to the main Easter mass in the Regina Mundi Catholic Church in Soweto, South Africa, 03 April 2015. The church was a place of worship during the Apartheid rule and recently witnessed mass services for the late Nelson Mandela.

Afrikaner men sing songs while standing in the middle of the ox wagon monument during a Boer war memorial held at the site of the Battle of Blood River near Dundee, South Africa, 16 December 2014. The memorial is part of the national holiday which is the day of reconciliation. The battle of Blood River between there Boers and Zulu's in the late 1800's was one of the most historic in the country's history.

Some of the hundreds of people carry candles during a memorial for the late Nelson Mandela in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa, 04 December 2014. Nelson Mandela died on 05 December 2014 and was buried at the end of a ten day funeral event. Tomorrow marks the national events marking his passing.

Africa's only Pope, His Holiness Pope Shenouda III of the Coptic Orthodox Church (C), presides over the consecration of a Cathedral while in a visit to Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday 8 February 2006. Pope Shenouda lives in Egypt and is head of the oldest church in Africa formed by the only African Apostle, John Mark. The Coptic Orthodox church is a tiny facet of religious life in South Africa.

The coffin of a victim of the Covid-19 Corona virus being taken to her grave by relatives at a burial ground in Johannesburg, South Africa, 24 July 2020 (reissued on 14 September 2020). The National Funeral Practitioners Association of SA (Nafupa) have threatened a 3-day strike starting on 14 September after the government tightened legislation regarding undertakers working conditions. The strike would mean bodies of deceased would not be collected from old age homes, hospitals and morgues for three days, that might lead to possible heath issues.

Members of the United Apostolic Church pray at the divine Fertility Caves deep in the Maloti Mountains near Clarens, South Africa, 14 December 2011. The United Apostolic Church followers retain their traditional pre-Christian belief system of ancestor worship in parallel with their Christianity. At the Fertility caves the followers 'pray' to both the ancestors and Christian God. Living in the cave are various Sangoma's, or 'Witch doctors' who have been living in the caves for years and who appeal to the spirit world alongside the Christian beliefs of the United Apostolic Church followers.

Young men dressed in their traditional dresses, pith helmets and white shirts carry their long trumpets as they wait to dance during the annual Nazareth Baptist Church pilgrimage at Judea, Eshowe, South Africa, 28 October 2012. Once a year 20,000 followers of the Shembe Church gather in the rolling hills of Kwa Zulu Natal province of South Africa to pray and dance and enjoy the community of fellow Shembe worshipers.

Burners dance around the remains of one of the art works that is burned to the ground in a pagan ritual during the AfrikaBurn festival in the the Karoo desert, Tweefontein, South Africa, 03 April 2012. The festival; an official regional event of Burning Man in the United States; includes various spiritual ceremonies during the week long gathering. The main aim of the burning of the 'Man' or main wooden effigy at the event is a Pagan like ritual of renewal and the start of another year. Many Burners use the experience to renew their spiritual beliefs.

A women cries as she prays for murdered South African soccer captain Senzo Meyiwa, at a church in the street in which he was murdered, Johannesburg, South Africa, 28 October 2014. The national football captain and Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana goalkeeper was shot in the chest in the home of his girlfriend, singer and actress Kelly Khumalo, in Vosloorus, south of Johannesburg on the evening of 26 October.

Catholic pilgrims realise their life long will to travel to the Catholic Marian Shrine of Ngome in Zululand as Father Michael Mayer blesses the pilgrims with the holy water on the shrine site, South Africa, Saturday 23 April 2005. The pilgrims prayed for German Pope Benedict XVI the day before his Solemn Holy Mass for his inauguration in the Vatican. The holy shrine was erected where Sister Reinolda May, member of the Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing, experienced ten visions between 22 August 1955 and 2 May 1971. Although Catholicism reached South Africa from Europe it is not considered a major religion in the country with an estimated 4 million. It's most famous son is Bishop Desmond Tutu.

From the Ancient spiritual caves of the Drakensberg where 'Sangomas' live to the New Age spirituality of the 'Burners' at Burning Man's African regional event, to the township residents in Durban practicing the ancient Indian art of yoga, and to politically and socially charged religious ceremonies, these images attempt to shed light on the 'Rainbow Spirit' of South Africa and its many God like faces.

The faith of many millions of South African's has risen as they turn for personal and community support from a higher power and their own inner power to help them through difficult and often changing times.

Whether it is the ancient shaman practices or the traditional religions of Islam, Buddhism, Christianity or the new age practices of yoga, meditation and other healing practices those that follow the path of spirituality have the support they need.

My journey to capture these intimate moments continues.

Faith Rising A personal project.

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God / Buddha / Great spirit / Allah / Jesus / Holly Ghost