This article originally appeared on VICE Romania
Photographer Remus Ţiplea has been photographing the baptisms of various Christian denominations in Romania, the European Union’s most religious country. “Orthodox and Catholic Christians baptize their newborns, whereas Pentecostals, Adventists, and Jehovah’s Witnesses are baptized when they hit adulthood,” Remus explains. “People don’t take the plunge until they feel ready to do so, because it’s considered a very important process and usually happens in front of the entire community.”
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He continues: “Each community is guided by certain rules, and if you follow them, they will welcome you. I’ve established a strong connection with many of them, they know me and are used to me being around.”
Of course, there have also been times when things didn’t go according to plan: “Once, I traveled a few hundred kilometers to where the ceremony was taking place, and the leaders of the congregation simply forbade me from taking any pictures. At another ceremony, I was told, very politely, that I wasn’t welcome at their ritual because I had a beard. My favorite experience was in a village on the bank of the river Somes. The priests were baptizing people in the river and I actually followed them in so I could take pictures. I was up to my neck in water.”
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