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Documentary Series

Giorgi Shengelia

Photographer

Giorgi Shengelia

Religious life in Tbilisi

Historical discourse about Tbilisi includes a story on the religious diversity of the city. Even today, representatives of various confessions conduct religious services and a lead a religious life in Tbilisi. while taking pictures of religious gatherings, I've found myself in different ceremonies and rituals. While working on the project I attended Baptist's - baptism ceremony, also protestant service in Vake and a gathering of Egyptian Copts in Didube, who emigrated from Egypt to Tbilisi because of religious persecution. Also I saw the ritual of Orthodox parishioners in the church of St. John and the visit of the Pope of Rome in the Lokomotiv stadium.

Giorgi Shengelia

Giorgi Shengelia was born in 1984 in Tbilisi, Georgia. He graduated in Power Engineering and Telecommunication from Georgian Technical University in 2006 and moved to Florence, Italy with his family. It was while living there that he developed his interest in art and photography and in 2012 he decided to follow the courses of photojournalism at Fondazione Studio Marangoni. After completing his first personal project (Four Rooms on everyday life of Georgian women migrants in Italy) he returned to Tbilisi where he works as a freelance photographer. In parallel with his documentary work, he develops a more plastic and more artisanal photography.