manhattan – DOCIT

louise-pedno_religion_161011_7277 — Street prayer on Yom Kippur at the worldwide headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement, at 770 Eastern Parkway (also knows as “770”) in Crown Heights, Brooklyn on 11 October 2016. Religion and spirituality assignment. Photo by Louise Pedno

louise-pedno_religion_161011_7619 — Yom Kippur at the worldwide headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement, at 770 Eastern Parkway (also knows as “770”) in Crown Heights, Brooklyn on 11 October 2016. View from the women’s balcony. Religion and spirituality assignment. Photo by Louise Pedno.

RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY — Bengali women can be seen spiritually engaged in Bhakti Kirtan (prayers) during the Durga Pooja festival, at the Bangladesh Hindu Mandir on 11th October 2016, Queens New York. Photo by Mandar Parab

New York 2016-ICP-The_Feast_of_Saint_Francis_and_Blessing_of_the_Animals — The Feast of Saint Francis and Blessing of the Animals. Photo by Paolo Quadrini

cao_161017_4506 — Sherpa community practice dharma in United Sherpa Association (Sherpa Kyidug) in Flushing, NY on Oct 17, 2016. Founded in New York in 1996, the association attempts to preserve and promote Sherpa heritage. Photo by Mengwen Cao

cao_161017_4515 — A lama leads a dharma practice in United Sherpa Association(Sherpa Kyidug) in Flushing, NY on Oct 17, 2016. Founded in New York in 1996, the association attempts to preserve and promote Sherpa heritage. Photo by Mengwen Cao

ximenaetchart_religion-3 — October 15th, 2016 – Assafa Islamic Center in the Lower East Side, NY. As the number of immigrants from Muslim lands to New York City increases, the number of mosques rises in rough proportion. At the Islamic Center children memorize the Qur’an on weekends. Is one of the traditions to preserve the Qur’an. Photo by Ximena Etchart

New York's Hare Krishnas — A Hare Krishna group chants in Union Square Park. “Kirtanam”, or group chanting, is one of the nine processes of devotional service. Followers repeatedly chant about their male god Sri Visnu; his form, characteristics and pastimes. Photo by Vanessa Ritchie

lauratrainor_religion_201610206 — Assistant Pastor Juan Carlos Ruiz presides over an evening ceremony at St. Peter’s Church at the intersection of Lexington Avenue and 54th Street in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday, October 12th at 6:30 pm. Photo by Laura Trainor

lauratrainor_religion_201610201 — Pastor William Eschen presides over an intimate daytime mass in the chapel of St. Peter’s Church at the intersection of Lexington Avenue and 54th Street in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday, October 12th at 12:30 pm. Photo by Laura Trainor

lau_161009_2276 — Devotees dressed in traditional attire perform Garba, a folk dance, during Navaratri celebrations at the Geeta Temple in Corona, Queens on Oct 9, 2016. Navratri is a nine day Hindu festival during which devotees worship shakti or feminie energy as embodied by nine Hindu goddesses. Photo by Candice Lau.

lau_161009_1970 — Devotees collect the remaining ash after the religious ceremony for good luck and protection during the Navratri celebrations at Geeta Temple in Corona, Queens on Oct 9, 2016. Navratri is a nine day Hindu festival during which devotees worship shakti or feminie energy as embodied by nine Hindu goddesses. Photo by Candice Lau.

darling_religion_date-yymmdd_8021 — October 09, 2016 – Paterson, New Jersey: Brother Windsor Elony sings and plays the tambourine while another member of the congregation leads everyone in song. The First Baptist Church built in 1825, primarily served white European immigrants until the 1990’s. Despite dwindling numbers since then, the church has been able to rely on new immigrant groups to sustain it. Today, one of the congregations it serves is the Haitian-Goshen-Baptist Church of Paterson, which worships in a small chapel within the old church. Photograph by Todd R Darling

darling_religion_date-yymmdd_7862 — October 09, 2016 – Paterson, New Jersey: Brother Windsor Elony leads the Haitian congregation in prayer. The First Baptist Church built in 1825, primarily served white European immigrants until the 1990’s. Despite dwindling numbers since then, the church has been able to rely on new immigrant groups to sustain it. Today, one of the congregations it serves is the Haitian-Goshen-Baptist Church of Paterson, which worships in a small chapel within the old church. Photograph by Todd R Darling

chou_religion_161019_02 — A man leaves the Temple Emanu-EL after Shabbat service on Oct 14, 2016. Photo by Ta-Lei Chou.

Church of St. Joseph of the Holy Family. Photo by Ta-Lei Chou

With sadness, trepidation and excitement this is the last ICP PJ blog for the 2015 year. On Friday night we shared a beautiful opening at ICP with hundreds of guests visiting our final Show. Sunday was graduation, and the last two days have been frantic last minute printing and prep for tomorrow’s portfolio reviews.

For this last post, I asked PJ students to submit not the best picture they made this year, but the one that they connected with the most. For some it may be the image that helped them kickstart their project, or an image of a subject with whom they formed a special bond. For others, perhaps, it is a frame that takes them back to a moment when things “clicked” (no pun intended…okay, pun intended), and when it all started coming together.

It has been a most wonderful, challenging and exhilarating year. Thank you to all those around the world who have supported us this year, it has meant the world to us and we could not have done it without you. But most especially thank you to each student who lived this year in New York as a photographer. We did it together, and we shall keep doing it together. After all, there’s no turning back now.

– G