Rainbow Gathering

Matjaz Krivic

August 19, 2016

“This is a photo of a meeting which took place in 2007 in Bosnia and it is one of the most powerful moments that I had encountered while visiting Rainbow Gatherings. People of every nation, different backgrounds hold hands and celebrate life.”
“This image shows the celebration around full moon and sums up what these Rainbow Gatherings are about. I took it with a tripod and a very long exposure. People singing and dancing. Though it sounds a bit like a cliché, it actually has a deeper connotation – a total strangers to one another are letting their judgements go and begin relationship with intimacy, community and touch.

I took this image in Bosnia in 2007 and it was one of the greatest meetings ever: The weather was nice and the fire is always the big thing. They light it after dinner, when the sun goes down. Here the fire was enormous. They haven’t not just put a big pile of wood together: Before it was lighted you could see they have made a big sculpture out of the wood. Almost like the Burning Man. The fire was so big and so hot, most of the people took their clothes off. People then started dancing in big circles and moving in opposite directions.

Music always plays a big role. This time lots of drummers were playing their djembe drums at the same time, it felt if there were a hundred drummers. You immediately start to dance and it almost takes you into a trance. At this meeting there was a big orchestra, about hundred people playing their instruments. Amazing! My friend was like the conductor and they rehearsed only a few days and improvised everything.

This meeting removed all the bad energy. Everything in this meeting was right, the vibes, the energy. To me it was one of the best meetings ever, I had goosebumps!"

LFI 06.2016+-

See the full reportage in LFI 6.2016. More

Matjaz Krivic+-

Matjaz Krivic_photo by Jaka Vinsek
© Jaka Vinsek

Matjaz Krivic is a documentary photographer specialising in capturing the personality and grandeur of indigenous peoples and places. For 20 years he has covered the face of the earth in his intense, personal and aesthetically moving style. This has won him several prestigious awards among others the 2016 World Press Photo. His stories of planet Earth, its temples, illusions, our efforts, needs and afflictions, which he has recorded in different parts of the world, establish links with the subtlety of our parallel archetype worlds and expand the space of inspiration, as well as our empathy and tolerance towards the known and unknown cultural space. His reportage about the Rainbow Family was published in LFI 6/2016. More

 

Rainbow Gathering

Matjaz Krivic