Desiree Dolron Exaltation Images Religion Death

The series of photographes in this work is concerned with the tension between body and soul as experienced by various religious and mystical movements; ritual transactions are portrayed that are nourished by an intense desire for transcendence. Many of these transactions have to do with self-chastisement induced in trance. The series contains a large number of photographs of believers abandoning themselves to extreme acts of religious faith, as individuals or as a group. Désirée Dolron (1963) has been working as a photographer for the past 10 years. For her series "Exaltation" she attended ritual festivals in countries such as India, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Morocco and Thailand.