In a society that is increasingly obsessed with technology, it is sometimes difficult to understand the reasons behind an ascetic life. But why would someone throw away all their material possessions and life's pleasures and live apart from society?
A fantastic set portraits, taken by a Brooklyn photographer Joey L it allows us to look face to face with the ascetics who dedicated their lives to the search for spiritual liberation.
Joey traveled the world in search of monks and spiritualists. He started in northern Ethiopia, for his latest installation »Holy Men"and he photographed the so-called sadhus who live in India Varanasi.
All world religions have their forms of asceticism, but Hindu ascetics are known for occasional extreme forms of self-denial, such as holding their hands in the air for months or even years at a time, and some even practice postmodern rituals involving deceased people.
Joey's colleague, the cameraman Cale Glendening, he managed to capture enough material "behind the scenes" to make it into a wonderful documentary.Beyond”, which you can see in the video clip below.
View the photo story in the gallery.
You can follow photographer Joey L on his official website, and cinematographer Cale Glendening here.
