Sacred Shores and Fading Frames: A Roma Pilgrimage Through Polaroids
Each May, the Roma people, often referred to as the “Travelling People,” make a soulful journey to the village of Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in the Camargue region of France. This is a pilgrimage of faith, community, and heritage as they gather to celebrate Saint Sara and the saints Marie-Jacobe and Marie-Salome. These saints hold deep significance in Roma culture, and Saint Sara, in particular, is venerated as the sacro-saint, the protector of the Roma people.
Legend tells of a miraculous journey centuries ago, a tale woven into the very identity of this pilgrimage. After Jesus’s crucifixion, the women of the Holy Family, including the mothers of the disciples, fled persecution in the Holy Land. With nothing but faith, they set out to sea in a boat without a sail or oars, trusting God’s guidance. They were carried by the tides to the shores of France, landing near what is now Les Saintes-Maries de la Mer. Today, these shores are filled with the faithful and the curious, gathered to honour Saint Sara and this incredible story of resilience and devotion.
Honouring Saint Sara
An incredible story of resilience and devotion.
Capturing Faith Through Polaroid: Embracing Imperfection and Emotion
In 2012, I set out to capture this journey through a unique lens: Polaroid cameras and Impossible Project film. My goal was simple yet profound—to use the simplicity and immediacy of Polaroid photography to evoke the timeless emotions of this ritual, rather than get caught up in technical precision. Every frame would be a visual poem, capturing moments as they happened, a kind of stream of consciousness that flows with the pilgrimage itself.
Polaroids, with their spontaneity and occasional imperfections, were the perfect medium. Each photo became a small mystery, revealing itself only after development, often with unexpected nuances that added layers of meaning. Some images were touched by light leaks or slight color shifts, and far from diminishing them, these quirks enhanced the feeling of timelessness, echoing the unpredictability and faithfulness of the original journey of Saint Sara and the holy women.
The Fleeting Nature of the Moment
Working with Polaroid film presented its own challenges, but these hurdles were part of the appeal. The film is sensitive to light and needs to be shielded as it develops, a balancing act when shooting continuously in a crowd. Every photograph had to be treated with care, just as each pilgrim in the procession handled their banners, and symbols of devotion. This rhythm of creating, protecting, and revealing felt like a symbolic act, mirroring the fragility and strength of faith itself.
A Window Into the Sacred and Personal
Ultimately, this pilgrimage captured through Polaroid is a visual meditation on faith, community, and culture. My hope is that these images do more than convey a scene; I want them to invite viewers into the experience. Each image is an invitation to explore the mystery and beauty of this centuries-old tradition and, perhaps, to inspire others to seek out these stories firsthand. In a way, each photograph is like a small prayer, honoring the history, spirituality, and resilience of the Roma people and their journey.
Through these Polaroids, I hope to share a small part of what makes the pilgrimage to Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer so profound: the belief that even the simplest journeys, when taken in faith, are nothing short of extraordinary.
