I kind of thought this image worked pretty nicely today, considering this man arrived late and missed the afternoon prayer. I’d already made the usual “safe” images of the afternoon prayer when the mosque was literally filled wall to wall. (You know, those all too familiar images with the mosque full of worshipers, all kneeling in coordinated prayer.) I was just putting on my shoes in the foyer and leaving with the reporter when this man showed up, as it was his first time praying at this mosque here in town. And he was from Senegal too… ~cg.
A Senegalese man prays alone during the first day of Ramadan at the Masjid Al-Ikhlas mosque in Newburgh, NY on Friday, July 20, 2012. Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar. It is a period of prayer, fasting, charity-giving and self-accountability for Muslims in the United States. The first verses of the Koran (Qu’ran) were revealed to the Prophet Muhammad during the last third of Ramadan, making this an especially holy period. CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record
Chet Gordon resides in the lower Hudson Valley region of New York. A photojournalist for more than 25 years, he recently worked as Westchester Magazine's first photo editor, and previously was a staff photographer at four NYC metro area newspapers. He was also a photo editor at the NY Daily News for 5 years. His work has appeared in The New York Times, International Herald-Tribune, USA Today, MailOnline (UK), Army Times, Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, and Popular Photography magazines, among others. He is a career member of the National Press Photographer’s Association (NPPA), and a former board member of the NY Press Photographer’s Association (NYPPA). He served honorably as a U.S. Marine in the mid-1980's, including 2+ years stationed on Okinawa, Japan, and throughout Southeast Asia. A longtime volunteer and travel enthusiast, he accompanies several humanitarian aid clients on their international disaster relief and medical missions. Since 1997, he's worked in several African countries, the Middle East, Central and South America, Eastern Europe, as well as Afghanistan, Haiti, the Russian Federation, and Thailand. He routinely mentors young photographers looking to break into the industry and vacations in Bermuda and Kenya.
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