The community of Lipovans from Botosani

After the synod in 1654 when Patriarch Nikon reformed the Russian Orthodox Church, the religious authorities started to take restrictive measures against the people, and culminated with the coming to power of Peter the Great (1682-1725). He then adopted and emerged into the Old Russian culture the rite of the Greek Orthodox Church and started to Europeanize the country. The refusal of some believers to accept the new rite and abandon the old Byzantine rite used since the Christianization of the Russians led to them paying enormous taxes, being forced to wear certain clothes and they were also punished and tortured using inquisitorial methods. When they felt it was too much, the old believers started to emigrate and settle all around the world. Some of them reached Romania and very few of them settled in Botoșani. I used to photograph, and I still photograph the community of Lipovans from Botoșani. In this story I present you the photos I took on Easter, in 2014. I used Nikon D600 and Lensbaby Sweet 35. I photographed using only the light that was at my disposal. The community of the Lipovans from Botoșani is a small one, but its heart is big. The warmth of the church pours into the people, making it extremely kind and hospitable. The people take out all that good, positive energy from the church and carry it with them for a long time.