Show Navigation

Search Results

Refine Search
Match all words
Match any word
Prints
Personal Use
Royalty-Free
Rights-Managed
(leave unchecked to
search all images)
{ 19 images found }

Loading ()...

  • In a London street, an apprentice in the bakery or milk industry endures a shower of fresh milk being poured over his head after a dusting of flour. This traditional ritual is usually performed on the unfortunate young man when he has successfully passed his apprenticeship term in the company - his mates participating in making his day as miserable as possible. But he takes it with good humour as it means he is now initiated into the industry.
    apprentice_ritual-02-07-1998.jpg
  • For their daily river washing ritual, young Nepali boys bathe in the river Seti Gandaki in a valley side near the British Gurkha Regiment's army camp at Pokhara during their recruitment selection held ever year, 16th January 1997, in Pokhara, Nepal. <br />
After a gruelling series of physical tests to eliminate the weaker and less able candidates. 60,000 boys aged between 17-22 (or 25 for those educated enough to become clerks or communications specialists) report to designated recruiting stations in the hills each November, most living from altitudes ranging from 4,000-12,000 feet. After initial selection, 7,000 are accepted for further tests from which 700 are sent down here to Pokhara in the shadow of the Himalayas. Only 160 of the best boys succeed in the journey to the UK. The Gurkhas have been supplying youth for the British army since the Indian Mutiny of 1857.  (Photo by Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images)
    gurkha_selection04-16-01-1997.jpg
  • In the Villa of the Vettii in Pompeii we see a fresco in the lararium where a shrine to Roman guardian spirits of the household was situated. Family members performed daily rituals here to guarantee their protection by these domestic spirits. The first two characters are the deeply venerated 'lares' (presumed sons of Mercury and Lara) depicted as two young men in dancing postures, holding drinking horns that guaranteed prosperity. In the centre is the 'genius'. She is another guardian and fertility spirit ensuring the family line (gens) would continue and she wears the 'toga praetexta', bordered in purple, the garment of high-ranking Roman magistrates. Painted before the catastrophic eruption of Versuvius in AD79, these frescoes have been uncovered from metre-layers of volcanic ash and pumice but are now fading from moisture and cracked plaster...
    pompeii01-15-12-2007 .jpg
  • The reconstructed mid-3rd century Roman Mithraeum also known as the Temple of Mithras, Walbrook, now beneath Bloomberg's new European headquarters and open to the public, on 26th November 2017, in the City of London, England.
    mithraeum-01-26-11-2017.jpg
  • The reconstructed mid-3rd century Roman Mithraeum also known as the Temple of Mithras, Walbrook, now beneath Bloomberg's new European headquarters and open to the public, on 26th November 2017, in the City of London, England.
    mithraeum-02-26-11-2017.jpg
  • A tourist crouches on the original 4th century marble starting line at ancient Olympia's athletics track where both ancient Greeks and Romans held their games. Nike was the Goddess of Victory to whom Olympic athletes made offerings and prayers before competition. Hercules is said to have paced out the 600 Greek feet, or 'Stadion,' from which we get the word 'Stadium'. Olympic spectators suffered dehydration due to to extreme heat. The 29th modern Olympic circus came home to Greece in 2004 and at the birthplace of athletics and the Olympic ideal, amid the woodland of ancient Olympia where for 1,100 continuous years, the ancients held their pagan festival of sport and debauchery. The modern games share many characteristics with its ancient counterpart. Corruption, politics and cheating interfered then as it does now.
    greek_olympiad005-20-10_2003.jpg
  • Fallen Ionic and Doric columns lay in the undergrowth at Olympia, Peloponnese, Greece. The 29th modern Olympic circus came home to Greece in 2004 and in the birthplace of athletics and the Olympic ideal, amid the woodland of ancient Olympia where for 1,100 continuous years, the ancients held their pagan festival of sport and debauchery here. These fluted columns that date to about 400BC that now lie in the shade were originally piled on top of each other to construct - among other buildings too - the Temple of Zeus. There, the athletes made offerings to Nike, the Goddess of Victory before going out to compete in the many sports. The modern games share many characteristics with its ancient counterpart. Corruption, politics and cheating interfered then as it does now.
    greek_olympiad004-20-10_2003.jpg
  • A toilet sign sits near the standing Doric columns and tourists at Olympia's Palaestra or wrestling school. Here, training, instruction and bathing took place in the month before the Games. The 29th modern Olympic circus came home to Greece in 2004 and the birthplace of athletics, amid the woodland of ancient Olympia where for 1,100 continuous years, the ancients held their pagan festival of sport and debauchery. The modern games share many characteristics with its ancient counterpart. Corruption, politics and cheating interfered then as it does now and the 2004 Athens Olympiad echoed both what was great and horrid about the past.
    greek_olympiad003-20-10_2003.jpg
  • Officers watch new recruits swear allegiance to the Queen in British Royal Gurkha Regiment Pokhara camp, Nepal..
    gurkha_recruitment06-16-01-1997.jpg
  • The reconstructed mid-3rd century Roman Mithraeum also known as the Temple of Mithras, Walbrook, now beneath Bloomberg's new European headquarters and open to the public, on 26th November 2017, in the City of London, England.
    mithraeum-05-26-11-2017.jpg
  • The reconstructed mid-3rd century Roman Mithraeum also known as the Temple of Mithras, Walbrook, now beneath Bloomberg's new European headquarters and open to the public, on 26th November 2017, in the City of London, England.
    mithraeum-03-26-11-2017.jpg
  • The reconstructed mid-3rd century Roman Mithraeum also known as the Temple of Mithras, Walbrook, now beneath Bloomberg's new European headquarters and open to the public, on 26th November 2017, in the City of London, England.
    mithraeum-04-26-11-2017.jpg
  • It is tea 4 o'clock and time for cream tea at the Westbury hotel in central London. Served by a waiter who pours from a silver pot into china cups, three ladies enjoy the afternoon after a day's shopping in nearby shopping streets. The decor is classically dark English wood and the tablecloth is crisply white with a scones with jam and sponges.
    tea_time-01-05-1989.jpg
  • Tourists lunge over the original 4th century start/finish line in the stadium at Olympia. Hercules is said to have paced out the 600 Greek feet - or Stadion - from which we get the word 'stadium. On the grassy bank in the background is where the seating once accommodated the many sporting pilgrims who travelled to this place from all over Greece during agreed warfare truces in the weeks of the Olympic festival. The 29th Olympics came home to Greece in 2004 and the birthplace of athletics, amid the woodland of ancient Olympia where for 1,100 continuous years, the ancients held their pagan festival of sport and debauchery. The modern games share many characteristics with its ancient counterpart. Corruption, politics and cheating interfered then as it does now and the 2004 Athens Olympiad echoed both what was great and horrid about the past..
    greek_olympiad006-20-10_2003.jpg
  • Local women fill water bottles and wash family clothing and their hair in cold Himalayan mountain waters during their morning ritual in Gorkha which lent its name to the Gurkha soldier, and from where young teenage boys are typically recruited for service into the British army, a tradition that goes back to the Indian Mutiny of 1857, on 12th December 1997, in Gorkha, Nepal.
    annapurna03-12-12-1997.jpg
  • A detail from an ancient Assyrian stone carving (883-859 BC) from Nimrud depicting a scene from the court of King Ashurnasirpal, in the British Museum, on 11th April 2018, in London, England. The detailed reliefs on display in Rooms 7-8 originally stood in the palace throne-room and in other royal apartments. They depict the king and his subjects engaged in a variety of activities. Ashurnasirpal is shown leading military campaigns against his enemies, engaging in ritual scenes with protective demons and hunting, a royal sport in ancient Mesopotamia.
    british_museum-33-11-04-2018.jpg
  • Mexican Papantla Flyers perform a pre-Hispanic ritual dedicated to their sun god, a leap from a 90 foot pole, on 15th May 1996, the Tulum ruins, Yucatan, Mexico. Dressed in their native costumes these men lash themselves to this towering pole with a leather bindings and soar off into space backwards and upside down in the ultimate leap of faith. The Papantla Flyers are Totonac Indians performing an ancient fertility ceremony. As they slowly descend to earth, the 13 revolutions made by the four flyers equal the 52-year span of the Aztec century. They represent earth, water, fire and air and the interweaving of these four elements symbolizes the creation of new life. A fifth man is left on top, dancing on this tiny nine-inch platform while simultaneously playing both a pre-Columbian flute and drum.
    mesican_leap-15-05-1996.jpg
  • For their regular river washing ritual, the red identical t-shirts of young Nepali boys walk in single-file down a valley side near the British Gurkha Regiment's army camp at Pokhara after recently being recruited into the regiment after a gruelling series of tests to eliminate the weaker and less able candidates. 60,000 boys aged between 17-22 (or 25 for those educated enough to become clerks or communications specialists) report to designated recruiting stations in the hills each November, most living from altitudes ranging from 4,000-12,000 feet. After initial selection, 7,000 are accepted for further tests from which 700 are sent down here to Pokhara in the shadow of the Himalayas. Only 160 of the best boys succeed in the journey to the UK. The Gurkhas have been supplying youth for the British army since the Indian Mutiny of 1857.
    gurkha_training0316-01_1997.jpg
  • Usually played in pairs for morning and evenings calls to prayer, preludes, and processions, two western nuns following Tibetan-Buddhism play their Rag-Dung (brass trumpets) in a garden at the Kagyu Samye Ling Monastery and Tibetan Centre in Eskdalemuir, Scotland. One nun looks across to check finger positions of her fellow-player and they are sat cross-legged on the lush grass surrounded with flowers and tall plants. The Rag-Dung is the most spectacular of Tibetan ritual copper horns and some are up to twenty feet long. With a deeply resonant sound it is relatively easy to play. Those following this branch of Buddhism arrive in the Scottish wilderness for isolated Retreat periods, for short-term spiritual relaxation or to follow Tibetan teaching methods for discovering inner-peace, through prayer and meditation.
    samye_ling_horns07-16-1997.jpg
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
x

Richard Baker Photography

  • Archive
    • All Galleries
    • Search
    • Cart
    • Lightbox
    • Client Area
  • Portfolio
  • About
  • Contact
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Blog