Note: Contains nudity.
Bear Kirkpatrick is a photographer who ventures deep into the wilderness, seeking “hierophanies.” The term derives from the theories of religious historian Mircea Eliade, referring to moments when the sacred realm breaks into the profane (the material, everyday world). Kirkpatrick’s portraits feature nude figures in beautiful, tortured communion with the earth. In postures of longing and sorrow, their bodies unfurl with poetic expressions of the embodiment and transcendence of pain.
Images © Bear Kirkpatrick Via Beautiful/Decay