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22 January a French photographer and missionary, hieromonk Gerasim (brother Jean) came to Nijni Novgorod to present there an exhibition of his photos entitles “The garden of faith”. He also talked to the students and teachers of the local seminary and visited some monasteries, including the convent in Diveyevo. He gave an interview to a local radio, where he shared his thoughts concerning photography and art in general, then he talked about his life and his way to monasticism, foundation of skite Sainte-Foy where he’s been living since 1996, and St. Martin Fraternity.

The exhibition consists of about 60 photos: portraits of Orthodox priests, landscapes of Cevennes (where brother Jean was born) and views of his monastery. Works of a French photographer and painter Patrick Pagès were also included in the exhibition.

Hieromonk Gierasim (brother Jean) was born as Gerard Gascuell in 1947. In 1967 he went to Paris to study photography. Then he worked as a photographer for many different newspapers and magasins, his pictures were published in “art” and “fashion” articles. They were also exhibited in France, Japan, Canada and the USA, as well as in many other countries.

Moved by the way of life of the Athonite monks, he decided to change completely his life: after ten years passed in different monasteries, he went back to France, where he founded St. Martin Fraternity, a society that groups artists of different kinds who want to pass a religious message in their works. In 1996, he co-founded Skite Sainte-Foy, where he’s been living.



The exposition in Nijni Novgorod will be open to public to the end of February.



Here you can see more pictures of the opening and hieromonk Gerasim’s visit: http://www.nne.ru/gallery.php?pr=1706



Brother John has also profile on our site: http://orthphoto.net/user.php?id=3611