Where the Spirit Still Exists
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Prize
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PhotographerTroi Anderson , United States
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Website
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This series documents ritual and religious ceremonial practices of Haiti. Often misunderstood and maligned, Haitian Vodou is ancestral worship that provides a living connection with the psychic heritage of a people and a place torn apart during
the colonial slave trade. The inheritance of these ancestral spirits provides the foundation for Haitian Vodou. Spirit is not seen as a vague, mystical evanescence, but rather intelligence, energy, a repository of moral knowledge. Rituals of birth, initiation, death and sacrifice are theatrically performed. The spiritual principles behind these rites are rekindled through this sacred performance.
In my own work, I was not documenting a particular religion, but instead the great depth of cathartic human emotion possible in its desire for transcendence. For the devotional ceremonies and rites are always in measure to the difficult existence found in Haiti. In this way, Haitian Vodou is an act of affirmation in the face of hellish adversity. What survives in this land is by necessity only. The vital spirit of Vodou that has lasted centuries of persecution defines the human foundation that is left when almost everything else has been taken. It is my intention to bring this strength to light.
Troi Anderson is a fine art, documentary photographer based in Portland, Oregon. Troi began his career working in Magnolia Pictures and later, as a Merchant Marine sailing throughout Asia and the South Pacific. His work has been featured on CNN, GeoFrance, TIME Lightbox, The Oregonian, Black and White and the photo collective, Verve. Troi's photography has been exhibited in the Blue Sky Drawers program and has been named one of the Emerging Artists by Daniel Cooney Fine Art and Musee Magazine.
Awards Collections
Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego
Awards
2018 IPA International Photography Awards
A Deeper Perspective
2018 Communication Arts Photography Annual 59
2018 American Photography 34
2018 Palm Springs Photography Festival,
Featured Screening
2017 International Photography Awards
3rd Place, Traditions and Cultures
Honorable Mention, Portraits
2017 Sony World Photography Awards, Commended
2016 American Photography 32
2015 Critical Mass Top 50
2015 International Photography Awards
Honorable Mention, Traditions and Culture
Honorable Mention, Culture
Honorable Mention, Landscapes
Honorable Mention, Night Photography
2015 Palm Springs Photography Festival
Featured Screening, Songs of the Spirit
Featured Screening, Software Fictions
2015 PX3 Prix De La Photographie Paris
Gold Winner, First Place. Press/Feature Story
Gold Winner, First Place. Press
Honorable Mention. Press/ Feature Story
2015 PX3 Prix De La Photographie Paris, White Competition
Gold Winner, First Place. Documentary
Bronze Winner, Third Place. Documentary
Honorable Mention. Documentary
2014 Musee Magazine, Emerging Artist
2014 International Photography Awards
2nd place, People and Culture
Honorable Mention, People and Culture
Honorable Mention, Traditions and Cultures
2014 PX3 Prix De La Photographie Paris
Silver Winner, 2nd place. Feature Story Category
Silver Winner, 2nd place. Feature Story Category
Silver Winner, 2nd Place. Travel/Tourism Category
2014 Smithsonian Magazine Photography Awards, finalist
2014 Sony World Photography Awards, Commended top 30 Photographers
2014 Aperture Summer Open, exhibition winner
2014 Kiku International Mountain Summit Photography Awards, finalist
2014 Professional Photographer Magazine, Photographer of the Year, finalist
