The Holy Mountain

Daily Life, third prize stories

1999

Christianity around the world: Pilgrims climb barefoot over the sharp shale of Croagh Patrick, Ireland's Holy Mountain, to say a mass in honor of St. Patrick.

Commissioned by: Network Photographers

Photo Credit: Mike Abrahams

Based in London, Mike Abrahams has worked as a freelance photographer for over 30 years having become renowned for his sensitive eye in documenting the lives of ordinary people often in extraordinary situations. In 1981 he was a cofounder of Network Photographers the Internationally renowned picture agency and his work has taken him around the world. His photographs have been published in all the major international news media. His ability to work in difficult situations has made him a highly sought after photographer working in the corporate market.

His work on Faith – A Journey with Those Who Believe, published in 2000, was the culmination of five years work, documenting the extremes and passion of Christian devotion throughout fourteen countries. Awards for this work include the World Press Photo Award in 2000 and the book Faith designed by Browns, was a finalist in the Design Week – Editorial Design: Books. It has been widely exhibited throughout the UK and Europe.

Colin Jacobson, picture editor of The Independent Magazine, described his body of work from the conflict in Northern Ireland and Published in the book Still War, in 1989 as “Documentary photography at its best – imaginative, comprehensive, confident and concerned”. His coverage of the troubles in Northern Ireland was the subject of a Television documentary “Moving Stills”.

Other important assignments have included coverage of the division of Cyprus, the Intifada in the Occupied Territories, the Berlin Wall, the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe, the rise in the influence of the religious in Israeli politics, the Cult of Assad in Syria, The Jews of Damascus and Bradford’s Muslims.

His current landscape work has been exploring the relationship between structures and their environment.