Romania’s Gravediggers Are the One Link Between the Country’s Many Religions

This article appeared on VICE Romania

Romania has 18 official religions, none of which have very much in common with each other, bar tax exemption rights and a set of followers with an absolutely astonishing sense of imagination. Their churches are different, their priests are different and, of course, they have different resting places for their dead.

One thing that does remain the same, however, is those digging their graves. Remus Țiplea – a 42-year-old Romanian photographer – spent 2011 documenting the lives of the followers of the six most prominent religious denominations in his local region of Negresti. It was back then he noticed that it was the exact same gravediggers servicing all of the funerals; besides heaven and hell, these men seemed to be the only thing these religions had in common.

Fascinated, Remus spent some years following and documenting them. According to the photographer, the gravediggers are humble, impoverished people, often from the periphery of society. They’re employed by the different religious communities to perform a job like any other, regardless of their own religious beliefs.

Scroll down for a selection of his photographs from the project.

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