Bob Gore Productions

Bati Ethiopian Kitchen 🇪🇹
My daughter-in-law's restaurant opening 🎉 Saturday, July 15.
1057 Fulton St, Brooklyn, NY
Cash Bar | Passed Bites
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"Witnessing Faith" 🙏🏾 Exhibit
January 18 - March 2, 2023
61 Claremont Ave. @ 120th St.
New York, NY | 9am - 5pm

I first experienced the Black church from the front row of Chicago's Mount Hermon Missionary Baptist Church, where my grandfather Rev. L.H. Gore was pastor. I was mesmerized by his powerful preaching and the continuous response from the congregation. My enthusiasm was so apparent some members speculated, "That boy's gonna be a preacher."

Though my path led to careers in broadcasting and photography, over the years, I've been an active member in or worked for African Methodist Episcopal, Baptist, Lutheran, United Church of Christ, and United Methodist congregations in Buffalo, Boston, and New York City. Worship in each church reflected unique denominational formats while embracing African-American music and preaching qualities. I received mentoring and spiritual guidance through these churches from an extraordinary cadre of theologians, pastors, activists, and laity. Over the decades, congregations from various faiths have allowed me to join their worship and photograph their gatherings. The result is a unique collection of images, which I hope you will come to see.

From January 18 through March 2, 2023, a retrospective of my work entitled "Witnessing Faith" will be on view at The Interchurch Center at 61 Claremont Ave., New York. There will be images of Christians, Jews, and Muslim believers of African descent from around the US and Caribbean in worship, celebration, education, and social action.

I had the pleasure of meeting the Pelé in the 1990s at MIPTV, the international TV program fair in Cannes, France. He was gracious to everyone eager to meet him and take a photo. I believe he is the greatest footballer of all time.

At the peak of his career, Pelé was the joint-top goal scorer for Brazil with 77 goals in 92 games. At the club level, he is Santos' all-time top goal scorer, with 643 goals in 659 games. In a golden era for Santos, he led the club to the 1962 and 1963 Copa Libertadores and the 1962 and 1963 Intercontinental Cup.

Rest in peace, dear brother.

According to the Bible, the first known occurred with Jesus, sometime around 30 AD, when he was baptized in the River Jordan by his disciple John (later known as John the Baptist).

These images are by Bob Gore, a photographer specializing in worship traditions in the Afro-Caribbean communities. A retrospective of his work over the past thirty years will open in January at New York's Interchurch Center.