A woman prays inside the main church, Juazeiro do Norte, Ceará state. It is common practice to bring either sick or disabled people to holy sites in order to ask for them to be healed. Here, a father is seen with his son who has down syndrome.
The sun beats down insufferably on the rust coloured landscape, stretching for mile after mile under a cobalt blue sky. In the distance, a convoy of rented farm trucks packed with thousands of penitents kicks up a serpentine cloud of dust that rises and then dissipates over the land. Through the dry air comes a jingling of chimes and a clicking of rosaries, a shuffling of processions, and with eyes heavenward, a ceaseless chanting of invocations. This is a holy and sun-scorched land, the Backlands of Brazil’s northeast – the Sertão. Some believe Jesus is buried here.
Photos by Christian Cravo, text by Christian Cravo and Jorge Blanco