Catholic devotees nailed to the cross on Good Friday (warning: GRAPHIC CONTENT)
/On Good Friday on a hillside in the small town of San Pedro Cutud in Pampanga, Philippines, several Catholic devotees including a woman were nailed to crosses as part of a the re-enactment of the suffering of Jesus Christ.
Ruben Enaje (CENTRE), a sign painter who began his yearly rite after surviving a fall from a building. This year was the 32nd time he has been crucified. Fuji GFX, 110mm.
One lady was amongst the Catholic devotees to be crucified with real nails through her hands.
One lady was amongst the Catholic devotees to be crucified with real nails through her hands.
One lady was amongst the Catholic devotees to be crucified with real nails through her hands.
This spectacle has now become a tourist attraction but is frowned upon by Church leaders in the Philippines.
Ruben Enaje (CENTRE), a sign painter who began his yearly rite after surviving a fall from a building. This year was the 32nd time he has been crucified. Fuji GFX, 110mm.
Another part of the event involves many male penitents walking for several miles through the villages beating themselves with sharp bamboo sticks.
Dozens of male penitents walked several miles through villages, beating their bare backs with sharp bamboo sticks and pieces of wood. Fuji GFX, 45mm.
Dozens of male penitents walked several miles through villages, beating their bare backs with sharp bamboo sticks and pieces of wood. Fuji GFX, 110mm.
Most of the penitents involved believe that by doing so they can seek forgiveness for their sins, pray for a better life or help cure sickness within themselves or family members.
Devotee penitents carry heavy wooden crosses for several kilometres up to the crucifixion site atop a hill outside san pedro cutud, pampanga. Fuji GFX, 110mm.
A wider view of the hilltop scene, the horsemen had arrived to start the spectacle before the crucifixions. Fuji GFX, 45mm.
On a personal level I found the event to be interesting to photograph (although access was difficult, as we couldn't shoot close up as I normally would, which would have made much more dramatic images). I could only really get super close to the crowd to use the wide lenses I would normally use for shooting such dramatic events.
The large crowds are kept behind barriers amid tight security, enforced by the Army and local police forces throughout the popular event. Fuji GFX, 23mm.
The other thing I found interesting was the way some of the crowd observed the event, some sitting in a 'VIP' area wearing straw hats sipping ice tea, whilst someone is screaming in pain being nailed to a crucifix...this gave me connotations of gladiatorial style events of ancient Rome...
Tourists posed for photos whilst people were being nailed to crucifixes... Although I'm shooting the event for documentary purposes, I do find the images of people posing with selfie sticks in front of the spectacle quite bizzare to say the least...
The event started around 3pm and went on for several hours into the late afternoon. Fuji GFX, 23mm.
Gary Tyson is an official Fuji X Photographer and founder of F8 Photography, now based in Manila, Philippines and is fortunate to be able to travel around the world following his passion by creating images and short films for a diverse range of clients as well as teaching photography workshops and tailored courses around South East Asia. Before arriving in Asia Gary was a British Army photographer which led him all over the globe with the British military.
