Arlene Gottfried saw Selwyn Rawls and The Eternal Light Community Singers for the first time in 1990, during a gospel festival in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. She was so impressed that she decided to follow the gospel choir with her camera. Her reportage ultimately took up more than five years. In that time she began to be part of the choir, the black church with which it was connected, and the spiritual journey it was engaged in. 'The magic of this group and the love that I felt was so strong,' says Gottfried, 'that I had no choice except to raise my voice to praise God in song.'

Arlene Gottfried (b. 1950, United States) worked as a freelancer for clients including The New York Times Magazine, Life and The Independent, and showed in Tokyo, New York, Milan and other cities. She profiles herself as 'the singing photographer'.