Month: September 2010

Honey-Blessing Festival-Maccabee Festival 2010, Part II/Мядовы Спас-Макаўе 2010 год, частка II August 14 is one of the clearest examples of syncretism, the overlapping or fusion of different traditions, in the Belarusian cycle of the year. Traditionally August 14 (August 1 in the Julian or Orthodox calendar) is seen as a marker of the change from… Continue reading Photo of the Day for September 10, 2010

Honey-Blessing Festival-Maccabee Festival 2010, Part I/Мядовы Спас-Макаўе 2010 год, частка І August 14 is one of the clearest examples of syncretism, the overlapping or fusion of different traditions, in the Belarusian cycle of the year. Traditionally August 14 (August 1 in the Julian or Orthodox calendar) is seen as a marker of the change from… Continue reading Photo of the Day for September 9, 2010

Granny Eufrasin’nja was waiting patiently at her fence for the arrival of her daughter and son-in-law on a tranquil mid-August Belarusian evening.  I approached and, remarking how kind she looked, asked if I could take a portrait.  During our conversation she noted that she would be at the Honey-Blessing ceremony at her church in nearby… Continue reading Photo of the Day for September 8, 2010

First Cutting, Khotamjel’ 2010/Першыя закоскі, Хотамель 2010 год

Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Dudy 2010/Касьцёл Унебаўзяцьця Найсьв. Панны Марыі, Дуды 2010 год This statue, modeled in the Lithuanian tradition of the Sorrowful Jesus (Rupintojelis), reflects the rich Balto-Slavic cultural mix in northwestern Belarus.  Гэтуя статуя, зробленая ў літоўскай традыцыі “Хрыстос, чыё сэрца ў скрусе”, – элемент багатага балта-славянскага культурнага арнаменту паўночна-заходняй Беларусі.

Happy Birthday to Janka!  З Днём народзінаў, Янка! Vjeras’nitsa 2010/Верасьніца 2010 год

Il’lja II/Ільля ІІ The Orthodox parish of the church of the Prophet Elijah (Il’lja) in Vjeljamichy in Central Polesia celebrates its major annual church festival on Il’lja, August 2 in the modern (Gregorian) calendar. На Ільлю сьвяток у Велямічах, у праваслаўнага прыхода царквы Сьв. Пр. Ільлі. Feast of Il’lja, Vjeljamichy 2010/Ільля, Велямічы, 02.VIII.2010

Waiting for the Cows to Come Home, Machul’ 2010/Чаканьне на “каравоў”, Мачуль 2010 год

It was a special honor when Granny Kats’tsja asked me to take her portrait for her gravestone.  Асаблівым гонарам для мяне была просьба бабулі Каці зрабіць фота для яе надмагільля. In this photo from the series she is wearing her hair parted in the ages-old Polesian way and she has tied her headscarf in the classic… Continue reading Photo of the Day for September 2, 2010

September 1 is the first day of school in Belarus, when kids such as the city boy on the left in this photo put away memories of summer vacation in the village. Summer Evening in the Village, Mats’kautsy 2010/Летны вечар у вёсцы, Мацькаўцы 2010 год