A group of teenagers look down at a representation of the Living Stations of the Cross during Holy Week celebrations at the La Mucuchache town on the Pan American variant in the Venezuelan Andes region on April 15, 2022.
The fifth episode of our "Panamericana" photo column leads to Venezuela. Passion plays take place here in the midst of lunar landscapes – with real whiplashes. By Andrea Hernández Briceño (text and images) and Nora Ströbel (translation and image editing).
Priests usher parishioners into the church during Holy Week celebrations in Merida City on April 14, 2022. The Pan American variant traverses through the city.
Priests usher parishioners into the church during Holy Week celebrations in Merida City on April 14, 2022. The Pan American variant traverses through the city.
A man sells hairy Mucuchies puppies on the Pan American highway. His cheeks are red, like most Andeans’, and he haggles with customers for the best price. William says that up until this year very few visitors have come, the economic crisis and Covid-19 pandemic has gone through all regions these past five years without mercy.
His customers have traveled from other regions to celebrate Holy Week in Merida, where the dramatization of the Passion of Christ is famous. This state is one of the most Catholic in the country. No matter how small the town is, there will be a church in the center of it. And all social and economic life revolves around it.
A woman sells Nazarene robes during Holy Week celebrations in Merida City on April 14, 2022. The Pan American variant traverses through the city.
A girl stares at the crucifixion of Jesus stage during the representation of the Living Stations of the Cross in Holy Week celebrations at the La Mucuchache town on the Pan American variant in the Venezuelan Andes region on April 15, 2022.
The variant of the Pan American highway connects the center of Venezuela to Colombia. It crosses the country and climbs up to the beginning of the Andes, the 8,900 km mountain chain that extends from north to south of South America through seven counties.
The highway and the mountainous backbone of the continent intersect in Venezuela. This junction is dotted with small rural towns that take pride in their religious celebrations, each competing to be the most pious and extravagant at the same time. This contest comes alive during April, when the most daring enact the extreme twelve stages of the Passion of Christ.
Actors carry out the representation of the Living Stations of the Cross during Holy Week celebrations at the La Mucuchache town on the Pan American variant in the Venezuelan Andes region on April 15, 2022.
An actor playing Jesus carries the cross during the representation of the Living Stations of the Cross in Holy Week celebrations at the La Mucuchache town on the Pan American variant in the Venezuelan Andes region on April 15, 2022.
Actors represent the crucifixion of Jesus stage during the Living Stations of the Cross in Holy Week celebrations at the La Mucuchache town on the Pan American variant in the Venezuelan Andes region on April 15, 2022.
Vultures eat on the side of the road during Holy Week celebrations at the Lagunillas town on the side of the Pan American variant of the Venezuelan Andes on April 17, 2022.
Some of the actors have been doing it for years and the proudly bare the scars from the whippings. They say that it is an honor to be Jesus and to draw blood. Especially this time, when there are more visitors than the past years of pandemic and deep economic crisis. There are more spectators and the costumes are new.
Old ladies, drunkards, babies on the shoulders of their parents and a woman on a wheel chair climb to the highest rocks to see the Living Passion from above the fog while a drizzle wets their hair and the Mucuchies barks blend with the cries of the devout. The cosmic paramo, also known as tundra, rises. It is strange to see the Passion of Chist in this moon-like foggy landscape so far away from the original stage 2,000 years ago.
Catholic parishioners carry a casket with a statue of Jesus Christ after a mass in a small church outside of the Mucuchies town on the side of the Pan American variant of the Venezuelan Andes on April 16, 2022.
A woman carries a statuette of the Virgin Mary during Holy Week celebrations in Merida City on April 17, 2022. The Pan American variant traverses through the city.
View of the Chama river from the Pan American variant of the Venezuelan Andes on April 16, 2022.
Leonardo Pirela, 13, combs his hair while a girl holds the mirror for him before a Jesus Superstar representation in Holy Week celebrations at the Lagunillas town on the side of the Pan American variant of the Venezuelan Andes on April 17, 2022.
William holds two-month old puppy Kratos at the Mucuchies town entrance by the side of the Pan American variant of the Venezuelan Andes on April 15, 2022.
A teenager throws rocks to the Mucuruba Lagoon near the Pan American variant of the Venezuelan Andes on April 1e, 2022.
A group of teenagers look down at a representation of the Living Stations of the Cross during Holy Week celebrations at the La Mucuchache town on the Pan American variant in the Venezuelan Andes region on April 15, 2022.
The fifth episode of our "Panamericana" photo column leads to Venezuela. Passion plays take place here in the midst of lunar landscapes – with real whiplashes. By Andrea Hernández Briceño (text and images) and Nora Ströbel (translation and image editing).
Priests usher parishioners into the church during Holy Week celebrations in Merida City on April 14, 2022. The Pan American variant traverses through the city.
Priests usher parishioners into the church during Holy Week celebrations in Merida City on April 14, 2022. The Pan American variant traverses through the city.
A man sells hairy Mucuchies puppies on the Pan American highway. His cheeks are red, like most Andeans’, and he haggles with customers for the best price. William says that up until this year very few visitors have come, the economic crisis and Covid-19 pandemic has gone through all regions these past five years without mercy.
His customers have traveled from other regions to celebrate Holy Week in Merida, where the dramatization of the Passion of Christ is famous. This state is one of the most Catholic in the country. No matter how small the town is, there will be a church in the center of it. And all social and economic life revolves around it.
A woman sells Nazarene robes during Holy Week celebrations in Merida City on April 14, 2022. The Pan American variant traverses through the city.
A girl stares at the crucifixion of Jesus stage during the representation of the Living Stations of the Cross in Holy Week celebrations at the La Mucuchache town on the Pan American variant in the Venezuelan Andes region on April 15, 2022.
The variant of the Pan American highway connects the center of Venezuela to Colombia. It crosses the country and climbs up to the beginning of the Andes, the 8,900 km mountain chain that extends from north to south of South America through seven counties.
The highway and the mountainous backbone of the continent intersect in Venezuela. This junction is dotted with small rural towns that take pride in their religious celebrations, each competing to be the most pious and extravagant at the same time. This contest comes alive during April, when the most daring enact the extreme twelve stages of the Passion of Christ.
Actors carry out the representation of the Living Stations of the Cross during Holy Week celebrations at the La Mucuchache town on the Pan American variant in the Venezuelan Andes region on April 15, 2022.
An actor playing Jesus carries the cross during the representation of the Living Stations of the Cross in Holy Week celebrations at the La Mucuchache town on the Pan American variant in the Venezuelan Andes region on April 15, 2022.
Actors represent the crucifixion of Jesus stage during the Living Stations of the Cross in Holy Week celebrations at the La Mucuchache town on the Pan American variant in the Venezuelan Andes region on April 15, 2022.
Vultures eat on the side of the road during Holy Week celebrations at the Lagunillas town on the side of the Pan American variant of the Venezuelan Andes on April 17, 2022.
Some of the actors have been doing it for years and the proudly bare the scars from the whippings. They say that it is an honor to be Jesus and to draw blood. Especially this time, when there are more visitors than the past years of pandemic and deep economic crisis. There are more spectators and the costumes are new.
Old ladies, drunkards, babies on the shoulders of their parents and a woman on a wheel chair climb to the highest rocks to see the Living Passion from above the fog while a drizzle wets their hair and the Mucuchies barks blend with the cries of the devout. The cosmic paramo, also known as tundra, rises. It is strange to see the Passion of Chist in this moon-like foggy landscape so far away from the original stage 2,000 years ago.
Catholic parishioners carry a casket with a statue of Jesus Christ after a mass in a small church outside of the Mucuchies town on the side of the Pan American variant of the Venezuelan Andes on April 16, 2022.
A woman carries a statuette of the Virgin Mary during Holy Week celebrations in Merida City on April 17, 2022. The Pan American variant traverses through the city.
View of the Chama river from the Pan American variant of the Venezuelan Andes on April 16, 2022.
Leonardo Pirela, 13, combs his hair while a girl holds the mirror for him before a Jesus Superstar representation in Holy Week celebrations at the Lagunillas town on the side of the Pan American variant of the Venezuelan Andes on April 17, 2022.
William holds two-month old puppy Kratos at the Mucuchies town entrance by the side of the Pan American variant of the Venezuelan Andes on April 15, 2022.
A teenager throws rocks to the Mucuruba Lagoon near the Pan American variant of the Venezuelan Andes on April 1e, 2022.
Andrea Hernández Briceño
Andrea Hernandez Briceno Venezuelan visual storyteller journalist and photographer based in Caracas Venezuela working on women centric stories