Randy Olson, Melissa Farlow Photography

  • Portfolio
  • About
  • Contact
  • Archive
    • All Galleries
    • Search
    • Cart
    • Lightbox
    • Client Area

Search Results

Refine Search
Match all words
Match any word
Prints
Personal Use
Royalty-Free
Rights-Managed
(leave unchecked to
search all images)
58 images found

Loading ()...

  • Monday is laundry day at Val Mustair.  Nuns working to hang clothes to dry in the sun are reflected in windows overlooking the Christian convent courtyard. A world-famous Benedictine Convent and a UNESCO World Heritage Site founded in the 8th century, the convent is home to Benedictine nuns since the 12th Century. Eleven make their home behind closed walls, living a life of commitment to poverty and celibacy. Each nun has her work but they come together for prayer and meals. Eleven of the nuns who live there speak a variation of the Romanche language.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7139_1024098.TIF
  • Monday is laundry day at Val Mustair as nuns fold a flowered sheet in the convent courtyard. The world-famous Benedictine Convent and a UNESCO World Heritage Site is in the Swiss Alps. Founded in the 8th century, the Christian convent is home to Benedictine nuns since the 12th Century. Eleven make their home behind closed walls, living a life of commitment to poverty and celibacy. Each nun has her work and they come together for meals and prayer.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7139_1024095.jpg
  • Nuns pray in the chapel at Convent at St. John Mustair, a world-famous Benedictine Convent and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Founded in the 8th century, it has been home to Benedictine nuns since the 12th Century. Eleven make their home behind closed walls, living a life of commitment to poverty and celibacy. Each nun has her work and they come together for Christian prayer and meals.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7139_1024092.jpg
  • A nun hangs laundry out to dry in the cloistered convent courtyard at Val Mustair, a world-famous Benedictine Convent and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Founded in the 8th century, it has been home to Benedictine nuns since the 12thCentury.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7139_1024097.TIF
  • A nun carries the beloved cat through the Convent of Saint John in Mustair, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Founded in the 8th century, it has been home to Benedictine nuns in Switzerland since the 12th Century.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7139_985672.TIF
  • A nun tunes her guitar while her sisters rehearse music in the cloistered Convent St. John in Val Mustair. A UNESCO World Heritage Site founded in the 8th century, it has been home to Christian Benedictine nuns since the 12th Century.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7139_1024094.jpg
  • Flags and statuary decorate a colorful roadside altar in a desolate region of northern Chile. Shrines or  animitas are a common tradition of memorials that mark the site where someone died. People who are not related to the person who was killed can offer a prayer at the animita; in this way, animitas can take the roles of popular saints in the Catholic religion.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187656.jpg
  • Novices play ball in a courtyard during a short break from the strict everyday life in a cloistered convent at Santa Catalina Convent in Arequipa, Peru. Older Catholic nuns allow this scheduled play to help the young nuns adjust more easily to the new rules and a routine: They are always silent, pray seven times a day, and never leave the grounds. Visitors to the convent can attend mass but never see life behind the walls where 23 women ranging in age from 15 to 93 make their home.
    MELISSA FARLOW_SP163_655663.jpg
  • Novices studying to become cloistered nuns take a break from their prayers at Santa Catalina Convent to sing in the garden.<br />
The young, cloistered nuns never leave convent grounds and live a life of contemplation in Arequipa, Peru. Older nuns allow the young women free time once a day to help them adjust to the cloistered, regimented life. Having just left their families they will never see again, the vow of commitment the novices take is a serious lifelong decision.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187062.jpg
  • The Cathedral of Siena.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222977.JPG
  • Nuns walk through a cobblestone passage inside Santa Catalina Convent. They are  followed by a dog that greets them while wandering freely the convent.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187056.jpg
  • An elderly woman has a front-window view of a Good Friday procession.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7890_1361060.TIF
  • Indian Muslims at the call to prayer on the roof of a Kolkata mosque.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7890_1386463.TIF
  • A photographer takes images of an Indian festival, Vaisakhi, in Barcelona's Rambla de Catalunya area.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7890_1386473.JPG
  • Twilight falls on the snow-covered village of Castelrotto which is also known as Kastelruth in German. The tower of a cathedral lights up the northern Italian resort town that serves as a winter destination in the Dolomites. Large distinctive mountains loom over the communities attracting tourists in all seasons.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7139_1024132.JPG
  • Sculpted bronze doors on the baptistry next to the Cathedral of Siena.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222981.JPG
  • The Cathedral of Siena.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222978.JPG
  • Christians dressed in costume carry crosses through the streets on Holy Week. Night view of a passion play depicting Christ's death.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7139_1024140.JPG
  • During Holy Week in Mendrisio, Christians dressed in white robes carry canvas lanterns, some over a hundred years old, The crosses are lit by candles and somberly carried through the streets for a passion play processional.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7139_1024143.JPG
  • Hindus worship a golden deity during the Tirupati Temple Festival.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1223044.JPG
  • Hindus worship a golden deity during the Tirupati Temple Festival.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1223043.JPG
  • Hindus worship a golden deity during the Tirupati Temple Festival.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1223045.JPG
  • Glazed tiles cover the 17th century Mastid Nazir Khan mosque in Lahore, Pakistan.
    RANDY OLSON_06569_653331.TIF
  • A Ratha Yatra religious festival in temple town of Puri.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7890_1386465.TIF
  • Morning fog rises over a summit cross on Zinalrothorn and other mountain peaks in the Alps surrounding the Matterhorn.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7139_1024112.TIF
  • A Ratha Yatra religious festival in temple town of Puri.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7890_1364836.TIF
  • A summit cross depicts a Christian crucifix standing high on a peak in the Dolomite Mountains.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7139_1024104.TIF
  • A nun walks through the garden dusted with snow before the planting season begins at Val Mustair, a world-famous Benedictine Convent and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Swiss Alps.  Founded in the 8th century, it has been home to Benedictine nuns since the 12th Century.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7139_1024093.jpg
  • This Indian festival in the Ramblas Catalunya area of Barcelona is called Vaisakhi.  These are Sikhs from Punjab that started a procession in Ramblas Raval and carried it thru Ramblas Catalunya and ended at the Plaza St. Augustine. The festival includes the passing out of huge amounts of food.  The men in this street hauled cart after shopping cart of fresh fruit and passed it out to the public.
    MM7890_20100419_09674.tif
  • Cloistered nuns pray seven times a day and otherwise remain silent.  Contemplation is the most important thing in their lives. Santa Catalina Convent, the Monasterio de Santa Catalina was built in 1580 and enlarged in the 17th century. In the chapel, the 30 cloistered nuns come together who live secluded inside the convent.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187059.jpg
  • Novices studying to be nuns, stop to smell the roses in the flower garden of the cloistered convent, Santa Catalina Convent. Built in the 1580s and enlarged in the 17th century, now 30 nuns live behind the walls in silence and prayer. The young novices are given some free time and activities as they adjust to their cloistered life in the monastery in Peru.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187057.jpg
  • Cloistered nuns pray seven times a day and otherwise remain silent.  Contemplation is the most important thing in their lives. Santa Catalina Convent, the Monasterio de Santa Catalina was built in 1580 and enlarged in the 17th century. In the chapel, the 30 cloistered nuns come together who live secluded inside the convent.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187059-1.JPG
  • Sunlight floods the doorway as Christian worshipers file into Lo Vasquez  sanctuary. They walked during a religious pilgrimage to the Catholic cathedral located near both Santiago and Valparaiso, Chile.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187647.jpg
  • Bride and groom light candles in prayer during their traditional wedding ceremony at the cathedral in Juchitán.<br />
After the church wedding, the couple walked through the streets of town following musicians. They collected family members who carried food to a street blocked off for the party.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187075.jpg
  • Over 700 children carry hundred year old candle-lit lanterns made of canvas as they walk through the streets on Good Friday of Holy Week. The Christian celebration in Mendrisio dates back to the 17th century.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7139_985664.TIF
  • Songs and prayer are how nuns begin their day at Santa Catalina Convent in Arequipa, Peru. The Monasterio de Santa Catalina was built in 1580. Among the 30 cloistered nuns who live in silence are five novices who study for five years to become a nun. The youngest nun is 15. The oldest is 98.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187061.jpg
  • On her 15th birthday, a Zapotec Indian girl in Juchitán attends communion at the Catholic church before her Quinceañera, which marks her passage from girlhood to womanhood. <br />
Dressed in her finest white dress and holding a bouquet of flowers, she kneels to light a candle.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187019.jpg
  • Cloistered nuns come together for chorus and prayer in Santa Catalina Convent in Arequipa, Peru. Ornate paintings and art adorn the walls of the chapel.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187060.jpg
  • Cloistered nuns work to make wafers for communion at Santa Catalina Convent in Arequipa, Peru. The Monasterio de Santa Catalina was built in 1580 and enlarged in the 17th century. The 30 cloistered nuns who live there have jobs and come together seven times during the day for chorus and prayer.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187058.jpg
  • A clergyman studies inside a 13th-century Orthodox church.
    RANDY OLSON_MM6879_708214.TIF
  • An Indian festival, Vaisakhi, in Barcelona's Rambla de Catalunya area.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7890_1386371.TIF
  • An Indian festival, Vaisakhi, in Barcelona's Rambla de Catalunya area.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7890_1386370.TIF
  • Onlookers watch an Indian festival, Vaisakhi, in Barcelona's Rambla de Catalunya area.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7890_1386372.TIF
  • A blur envelopes a young parishioner who carries a candle-lit canvas lantern in a processional that celebrates Christians' Holy Week. It is a centuries-old annual Mendrisio tradition.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7139_1024099.jpg
  • A mother and daughter worship during a church service.
    MELISSA FARLOW_06460_668284.jpg
  • Children carry canvas lanterns lit by candles in an evening passion play processional. Christian Holy Week is celebrated annual in Mendrisio with this tradition.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7139_1024142.JPG
  • Mendicants or beggar pilgrims at a town fair.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7890_1386316.JPG
  • Islamic Turks mourn a dead relative.
    RANDY OLSON_MM6879_708213.TIF
  • A gilded icon of the archangel Michael, painted in the 19th century, once hung in an Eastern Orthodox Church in Sinop.
    RANDY OLSON_MM6689_679158.JPG
  • A man sits with family members during a Day of the Dead vigil at a family grave in Xoxocotlan with candles and flowers. Dia de los Muertos is Mexico's most characteristic fiesta where it is believed that souls of the dead return to the earth. Families sit in the cemetery and sharing stories, music and their loved ones favorite foods.<br />
Some grave sites such as this one had a three dimensional sand painting done just for the celebration.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187017.jpg
  • A Pygmy preacher at the Pentecost Church in Epulu.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7209_976461.TIF
  • A Pygmy church choir is led by a Bantu tribesman.<br />
<br />
Pygmies have no land rights.  The colonizing Belgians assigned land rights to residing ethnic groups and this still holds. Because Pygmies are nomadic and had no chiefs, they did not receive land rights.  Pygmies are at the bottom of the social caste system—they have no power.  Strong ethnic groups still have strong land rights.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7209_976440.TIF
  • Bantu tribespeople as a more sedentary group, dressing in western clothing when families go to worship at the Pentecost church in Epulu.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7209_976438.TIF
  • Mbuti boys wear grass skirts and leaf mouthpieces to stay silent during their circumcision ceremony. Pgymies are of the Congo's few remaining traditional tribes in the rainforests of the world. They are threatened by logging companies and growing modern culture.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7209_976417.TIF
  • A Pygmy choir sings and dances and is led by a Bantu tribesman at a Pentecost church in Epulu.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7209_976439.JPG
  • A detail from one of 14  carved and painted poles at Totem Bight State Historical Park in Ketchikan.<br />
Midway down the Kadjuk Bird Pole is a Raven is with his breast forming the headdress of his wife, Fog Woman. She holds two salmon that she produced—the first salmon in the world.<br />
The stories that totem poles tell may be a myth, a legend, or honour Indigenous peoples through symbols.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1075098.jpg
  • Rain did not stop the celebrations of dancing and singing that followed a historic totem raising ceremony on Prince of Wales Island.<br />
Generations of Tlingit and Haida Native Alaskans retain strong cultural ties with the natural world reflected in their totem art depicting whales and bears.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1075035.TIF
  • Rain did not stop the celebrations of dancing and singing that followed a historic totem raising ceremony on Prince of Wales Island.<br />
Generations of Tlingit and Haida Native Alaskans retain strong cultural ties with the natural world reflected in their storytelling totem art depicting whales and bears.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1075034.jpg