Cristina García Rodero (Lalibela, Near Heaven)

In this volume, the award-winning photographer Cristina García Rodero presents the images she took in Lalibela, an Ethiopian World-Heritage city of the eleventh century, which is a holy city and an important pilgrimage site for the Coptic Christians of Ethiopia.

They are black-and-white images that bear García Rodero’s unmistakable mark. The viewer is captivated by the intense spirituality and the vibrant protagonism of the human body as it engages in religious rites, as captured by the photographer. In García Rodero’s own words: “For years, I’ve been trying to complete two facets of my work in which I always think jointly: body and spirit.”

In Lalibela, the author photographs the Coptic celbrations of Epipheny and Easter, portraying the Coptic Ethiopians, their rituals and the vehement religiosity of their praying bodies.