Find Communities in Australia

Join activities, celebrations, study groups, spiritual empowerment and education programs for young people, and more.

Learn about the Baha’i Faith

Baha’i beliefs address essential spiritual themes for humanity’s collective and individual advancement. Learn more about these and more.

DISMISS MENU

Featured in: The Baha’i Fast

Explore

This post is featured in the following collections:

The Baha’i Fast

in Explore > Calendar

The Baha’i Fast falls during the month of Ala–the last month of the Baha’i calendar. During these 19 days, Baha’is abstain from food and drink between sunrise and sunset. While this abstention from food and drink is a test of one’s will and discipline, the Fast is not just about abstaining from food. The Fast is, primarily, a spiritual practice.

Nineteen Days: Photos from the Fast

March 19, 2011, in Articles > Art & Creative Works, by
Photo by Layli for Nineteen Days

A very cool collaborative art project that takes place every year during the Baha’i Fast is Nineteen Days, a project started by friends and fellow bloggers Leila and Amy.

For each of the nineteen days of the fasting month, the pair invite Baha’i photographers to share their special moments at sunrise and sunset, caught as the photographers begin and end their days of fasting. The imagery is often haunting, evocative and serene. Each day’s post is accompanied by quotes from the Baha’i writings as well as comments from the photographer.

The first year’s set of photos was compiled into a book for sale online, but it’s all sold out at the moment. However a recent tweet indicates a fresh book will be out soon, so you may like to follow their Twitter feed to stay updated.

The image at the top of this post is by Layli, an LA based photographer who writes, on Day Thirteen of the 2011 Fast:

…and as the sun sets, every night, i cannot wait to tear through my delightful blood oranges and all the other citrus picked from our friends trees. the citrus is so beautifully colored, so happy and bright, it literally has the power to bring me cheer. its that time of the Fast for me where i am spiritually jacked on happiness & gratitude; my focus and inner sight is with such a keenness that i feel as if i am traversing through my history and baggage with roadrunner pace. this is the time of the Fast that i catch myself actually saying, “i don’t want it to end”.

Layli on Nineteen Days, Day 13

Check out more inspirational photography, quotes and thoughts in this fantastic project at nineteendays.wordpress.com and follow the project on Facebook and Twitter for updates.

Posted by

Collis Ta'eed

Hi I’m Collis! I live in Darwin, in the Northern Territory. I’m a Baha’i, designer, entrepreneur, climate tech angel investor, and engaged in philanthropy to support First Nations young people in Australia. I've been working on Baha'i Blog since its inception in 2011!
Collis Ta'eed

Discussion 5 Comments

dude, we think it’s very cool too! thanks for the shout-out! see you next year!

leila

leila (March 3, 2011 at 7:21 PM)

No worries Leila! Keep up the fantastic work, it’s really inspirational!

Collis

Collis (March 3, 2011 at 6:01 AM)

Incredible shots guys – bless you all for your efforts and creativity!

Mehran

Mehran (March 3, 2011 at 6:39 AM)

HEY GUYS! thanks so much for highlighting our project & my kooky photo! you guys are the best, so excited for your blog!!! all my best!

LAYLI

LAYLI (March 3, 2011 at 7:43 AM)

Thanks Layli! And you’re most welcome, it’s such a lovely photo! Really fresh and eye catching. I was really glad we got to have it on our homepage on launch day, makes the site look much more awesome 🙂

Collis

Collis (March 3, 2011 at 8:53 AM)

Leave a Reply

YOUR EMAIL WILL NOT BE PUBLISHED
REQUIRED FIELDS ARE MARKED *

"*" indicates required fields

Receive our regular newsletter

Join activities, celebrations, study groups, spiritual empowerment and education programs for young people, and more.

Find Communities in Australia

or Internationally

The arts and media have a critical role in how we share our community experiences. We’ve got resources, projects and more to help you get involved.

Visit our Creator Hub

Baha’i beliefs address essential spiritual themes for humanity’s collective and individual advancement. Learn more about these and more.

What Baha’is Believe

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia.

We recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their cultures; and to elders both past and present.

Baha’i Blog is a non-profit independent initiative

The views expressed in our content reflect individual perspectives and do not represent the official views of the Baha’i Faith.