Dresses, deities and devil-chasing: religious pilgrimages – in pictures

From Bulgaria to Haiti, photographer Mathieu Richer Mamousse has joined the congregation to capture prayers, bell-ringing and Vodou

Main image: Playing God … A man dressed as Baron Samedi, an incarnation of a Vodou deity, Port-au-Prince, 2018. Photograph: Mathieu Richer Mamousse

  • Holy week, El Rocío, Spain, 2018

    Anima is Latin for soul, spirit or breath. Born in 1989, photographer Mathieu Richer Mamousse’s first book, Anima, is an insight into the world of pilgrimages. Here, a family is parading the Andalusian city of El Rocío. The pilgrimage honouring the Virgin Mary is one of the biggest in Spain where thousands gather from across the country to walk or ride to the small town of Rocío. Riding horses is a sign of wealth and a way to assert your social status for traditional Andalusian families. Anima is available to buy now
    Holy week, El Rocío, Spain, 2018Anima is Latin for soul, spirit or breath. Born in 1989, photographer Mathieu Richer Mamousse’s first book, Anima, is an insight into the world of pilgrimages. Here, a family is parading the Andalusian city of El Rocío. The pilgrimage honouring the Virgin Mary is one of the biggest in Spain where thousands gather from across the country to walk or ride to the small town of Rocío. Riding horses is a sign of wealth and a way to assert your social status for traditional Andalusian families. Anima is available to buy now

  • Semana Santa (holy week), Sevilla, 2017

    Writing in the book, Zoé Isle de Beauchaine states: ‘When pilgrims gather into processions to celebrate their faith, they enter a spiritual sphere where the soul is transfigured by their chants, their dances, but also their attire. Mathieu Richer Mamousse went on a quest to grasp the very moment when men and women from all over the world forget themselves and unite into a cortege of believers. They leave their everyday skin and put on their finest costumes, which are often passed from one generation to the next’
    Semana Santa (holy week), Sevilla, 2017Writing in the book, Zoé Isle de Beauchaine says: ‘When pilgrims gather into processions to celebrate their faith, they enter a spiritual sphere where the soul is transfigured by their chants, their dances, but also their attire. Mathieu Richer Mamousse went on a quest to grasp the very moment when men and women from all over the world forget themselves and unite into a cortege of believers. They leave their everyday skin and put on their finest costumes, which are often passed from one generation to the next’

  • Semana Santa, Sevilla, 2017

    Behind the boy we can see the hand of a man carrying one of the pasos, a heavy wooden sculpture of Jesus and a grieving Mary taken around Sevilla by the brotherhoods
    Semana Santa, Sevilla, 2017Behind the boy we can see the hand of a man carrying one of the pasos, a heavy wooden sculpture of Jesus and a grieving Mary taken around Sevilla by the brotherhoods

  • Semana Santa, Sevilla, 2017

    A group of men take a rest from lifting the heavy pasos
    Semana Santa, Sevilla, 2017A group of men take a rest from lifting the heavy pasos

  • Holy week, El Rocío, Spain, 2018

    A girl wears a traditional Andalusian dress during the pilgrimage of El Rocío in the south of Spain
    Holy week, El Rocío, Spain, 2018A girl wears a traditional Andalusian dress during the pilgrimage of El Rocío in the south of Spain

  • Ascension day, Lourdes, France, 2017

    A group of pilgrims pray in the Massabielle cave where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared numerous times to a young girl in 1858
    Ascension day, Lourdes, France, 2017A group of pilgrims pray in the Massabielle cave where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared numerous times to a young girl in 1858

  • Ascension day, Lourdes, France, 2017

    A young pilgrim wears pious clothing as she prays to Our Lady of Lourdes in the Massabielle cave on Ascension day
    Ascension day, Lourdes, France, 2017 A young pilgrim wears pious clothing as she prays to Our Lady of Lourdes in the Massabielle cave on Ascension day

  • Ascension day, Lourdes, France, 2017

    Two Italian nurses are seen walking in front of the sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes. Nurses from all over the world come every year to care for the thousands of sick pilgrims who travel to Lourdes in the hope of healing
    Ascension day, Lourdes, France, 2017Two Italian nurses are seen walking in front of the sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes. Nurses from all over the world come every year to care for the thousands of sick pilgrims who travel to Lourdes in the hope of healing

  • Guédé Vodou ceremony, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 2018

    A man dressed as Baron Samedi, an incarnation of a Vodou deity, is drinking rhum in the cemetery of Port-au-Prince, Haiti to access a trance state. Around him, other believers are gathered to get his blessing. On the first two days of November, the faithful gather in cemeteries and at night ceremonies to celebrate the dead and the gods associated with them
    Guédé Vodou ceremony, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 2018A man dressed as Baron Samedi, an incarnation of a Vodou deity, is drinking rhum in the cemetery of Port-au-Prince, Haiti to access a trance state. Around him, other believers are gathered to get his blessing. On the first two days of November, the faithful gather in cemeteries and at night ceremonies to celebrate the dead and the gods associated with them

  • Guédé Vodou ceremony, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 2018

    A man is dressed as a Guédé in the cemetery of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. In Vodou mythology, the Guédés represent the spirits of death and resurrection
    Guédé Vodou ceremony, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 2018 A man is dressed as a Guédé in the cemetery of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. In Vodou mythology, the Guédés represent the spirits of death and resurrection

  • Surva festival, Pernik, Bulgaria, 2018

    A man takes part in one of the many parades in the city of Pernik, Bulgaria during the annual Surva festival. Following a 1,000-year-old pagan tradition, men and women wear frightening masks, costumes and heavy bells meant to scare devils away. They parade through the streets of their villages and towns in hope of a good harvest and the return of spring
    Surva festival, Pernik, Bulgaria, 2018 A man takes part in one of the many parades in the city of Pernik, Bulgaria during the annual Surva festival. Following a 1,000-year-old pagan tradition, men and women wear frightening masks, costumes and heavy bells meant to scare devils away. They parade through the streets of their villages and towns in hope of a good harvest and the return of spring

  • Surva festival, Pernik, Bulgaria, 2018

    A man tries out his costume in front of an old communist mural
    Surva festival, Pernik, Bulgaria, 2018A man tries out his furry costume in front of an old communist mural

  • Surva festival, Pernik, Bulgaria, 2018

    A young boy wears a traditional Kukeri costume
    Surva festival, Pernik, Bulgaria, 2018A young boy wears a traditional Kukeri costume

  • Surva festival, Pernik, Bulgaria, 2018

    A young boy takes a rest after parading through the city
    Surva festival, Pernik, Bulgaria, 2018A young boy takes a rest after parading through the city
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