If you are a little more visually oriented check out the photo essay and multimedia piece I published on The Mantle about Pentecostalism's spread here in Europe.

Stockholm

For those of you who love to read please check out my article about the spread of Pentecostalism in Europe which was published in the Spring Issue of World Policy Journal.



It is the culmination of a year's worth of explorations and I hope you enjoy it!

Stockholm



Well here I am in Scandinavia for the first time! I'll be around for about a month exploring Sweden and I look forward to keeping you posted on what I discover!

I’m excited to announce my selection as an Immigration Reporting Fellow by the French American Foundation. For my project I’ll be traveling to Sweden on Sunday for a month to look at the lives of second generation immigrants of Turkish decent and in September I will be based in Istanbul for two months interviewing and photographing those who have migrated to Turkey. It should be an exciting few months so expect several updates! If you have any tips for Stockholm or Istanbul please let me know.

Kiev, Ukraine

Well here I am, as far east as I have ever come for this project! The next three weeks should be interesting as I explore the spread of Pentecostalism here in Ukraine, stay tuned for images...

Barcelona

I hope you can join me tonight at the Alex Telese Gallery for the opening of my first solo show in Spain!

I hope you can join me at the opening of my first solo exhibition in Barcelona on June 21st at 19:00 at Galería Alex Telese located at C/ De la Palla, 11, 08002 Barcelona, Spain.



It also happens to be the summer solstice so we are sure to have a great time!

London

This week images from The Europeans were featured on the New York Times Lens Blog. Needless to say I’m pretty excited that my work is reaching a larger audience. I’ve been working on this project for the past seven years and there have been many times where I felt I was toiling in obscurity to say the least. Getting a little recognition every now and then feels good.

I have a show coming up in Barcelona in June! Here's a sneak peek...

In other news I've joined the World Policy Institute as a Project Leader!



Some might think it odd that a photojournalist like myself has joined a think tank but I've always been interested in photography as a vehicle to drive discussion, not simply transmit information. If you missed it here's a link to an article I wrote and photographed for World Policy Journal about the asylum system in Austria

There is some good news today! I've been selected as a Knight Luce religion reporting fellow. From the release:

Damaso Reyes will investigate the growth of European Pentecostalism led by immigrants from former European colonies. Reporting from Spain, England and Ukraine, Reyes will examine how Charismatic faiths are growing while traditional European Christian religious observance continues to decline. Reyes is a photographer and writer whose work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Der Spiegel, and The Christian Science Monitor.


I am looking forward to expanding the story I've been working on and seeing where it takes me!

If you haven't gotten a chance to see what I've done on Pentecostals de Barcelona so far please visit this link!

Barcelona



It took me 1 year, 5 months and 10 days to return to Barcelona.

But I have returned.

"Haven't you been saying that for a while now?" Doubters would ask when I told them I was moving here. Timetables shifted, plans were delayed.

But I have returned.

It has been my experience that plans are just that and that reality has a funny way of getting in the way of even the best laid plans. But when I say I'm going to do something I do it. It might take longer than I imagine and be more difficult than I can conceive but I get it done.

So doubters, continue to doubt but look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself: "is this it? Is this what my life is about, how close I will ever come to my dream?"

The answer for me is always no.

The good folks at the St. Louis American did a piece about me and my work that you can check out here.



I also have four signed posters form my show to give away. Just send me an email with your postal address!

I hope that all of you can join me (at least in spirit) on Friday at the opening of my solo show at the May Gallery in St. Louis. It is work from the Europeans and it should be a fun evening!