In my last post, I’d mentioned about continuing the personal project on faith and the pursuit of ritual - it’s interested me for a long time, in photography, how people across a wide variety of cultures, religions, places etc. all share this common desire for rituals.
The most recent instalment of this project came this weekend, with the Ukrainian ritual called ‘blessing of the baskets’, a high point in the religious year and a hallmark of Easter on the Orthodox calendar for Ukrainians.
It was a return for me, as I’d photographed this ritual previously, and the venue - the beautiful and historic St. Vladimir’s and Olga’s Ukrainian Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral - was one of the very first I’d photographed in when starting this project years ago.
The baskets contain food, especially bread which is relevant given Ukraine’s abundant wheat fields, and candles to spread light and receive blessings including sprinkling of holy water.
It was a fitting event to signify rebirth of this project, and I hope to continue it in the months ahead, as well as give clarity to its purpose going forward and exhibiting it in some form, also.
If you have ideas for various rituals to depict in photographs, whether it be small and ordinary and everyday, or large and grand occurring on special occasions - I’d love to include them. I’d also love to include a lot of diversity in this project, showing humanity’s shared urge to express itself through ritual.
Please contact me if you have suggestions - my website has a Contact section, I can be reached at email via talk@colincorneau.com or via Instagram
Ukraine
Prayers
For the past several years, I’ve been pursuing a personal project on faith and rituals - producing images of the various things different peoples do to show their faith.
One of the first places I went to was St. Vladimir’s and Olga Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in the city’s North End. I was warmly welcomed and the priest was encouraging and open to my project. It was an invaluable confidence builder and paved the way for any subsequent work I did.
It was this familiarity that I took into returning to the beautiful landmark cathedral this weekend, as prayers were given new urgency with the war continuing in the Ukrainian homeland. I wanted to continue my work documenting faith but also see the faith being offered to those suffering from the current conflict.
By coincidence, a rally for Ukraine at the provincial Legislature was also taking place later that day, a chance for prayers of a different sort at a different landmark building — a ritual of faith to strengthen a common bond.
For those wishing to help, St. Vladimir’s and Olga Cathedral is accepting donations for Ukrainian citizens suffering under war. And of course, the Canadian Red Cross is also a trustworthy, effective organization to help those in need.
Kosmii and Mykhaila Liuba offer silent prayers at St. Vladimir’s and Olga Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral during Sunday mass.
Angels symbolizing peace adorn the altar as a congregant lights candles at St. Vladimir’s and Olga Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral during Sunday mass.
A rally at the Manitoba Legislature Sunday afternoon drew members and supporters of the city’s Ukrainian community.
Free Ukraine
As the world knows by now, months and years of rumbling has broken into full-out war in the Ukraine. Every day, the infrastructure of instant communications has brought a tsunami of powerful stories and images direct from the front lines, which like most wars now seem to be everywhere.
Canada has the highest amount of Ukrainian people living anywhere outside that country or Russia, and that community’s history runs very deep in Winnipeg, home of the fabled North End and adopted home to generations of Ukrainians. It is perhaps because of this that a rally held yesterday to offer support drew so many people and evoked such emotion.
I knew I had to bring a camera to this event, and with the privilege of not having a deadline (or, more to the point, an outlet) for my images I decided to use a few film cameras, in the hopes of bringing a different mindset to bear and overriding my ingrained newspaper-photography pattern.
A reminder to anyone wanting to help the civilians in this unfolding catastrophe, donations to the Red Cross will be matched by the Canadian government — a great way to make your money go farther!
Susan Boulter tears up while listening to the Ukrainian anthem, during a rally in Winnipeg, Canada Saturday February 26, 2022. Boulter has family in western Ukraine struggling to escape the country during a Russian invasion.
