A Portrait Of The Canadian Badlands Passion Play And Oberammergau


Oberammergau is the location of the original Passion Play. In the middle ages the residents were dying of the plague and the so the survivors made a vow to God that they would perform a Passion Play in ten year periods if God would spare them.  The play continues to this day. In 2010 I was permitted to photograph rehearsals of the Canadian Badlands Passion Play in Drumheller, Alberta, Canada and then took the opportunity to visit the original Passion Play in Oberammergau, Bavaria, Germany, with my grandson Marshall Palmer. The black and white images come from photographs taken in 1880 and 1890 by a photographer working for a lecturer, John L. Stoddard. Note that the Oberammergau pictures were taken with a small pocket camera, so if you wish to order a print it may be better to chose the 13×19 inch size. The Canadian Badlands Passion Play images were all taken with a medium format camera that will work well with the larger 17×22 inch prints. Note that two different actors took the place of Jesus during the rehearsals.