{"product_id":"stories-no-1-train-church","title":"Stories No. 1: Train Church","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom book blurb: \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEarly-morning, late-afternoon and evening commuters preach the gospel in trains en route to and from work.\u003cbr\u003eThe train ride is no longer a means to an end, but an end in itself as people from different townships congregate in coaches - two or three per train - to sing to the accompaniment of improvised drums (banging the sides of the train) and bells.\u003cbr\u003eFoot stomping and gyrating - a packed train is turned\u003cbr\u003einto a church.\u003cbr\u003eThis is a daily ritual.\u003cbr\u003eThis sudden religious ecstasy struck me as odd. These office cleaners, clerks, factory workers and general labourers enjoined in a cacophony of song and prayer, a catharsis of spirituality in a moving landscape.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePhotographed over a weeks in 1986 on the Soweto-Johannesburg commuter line.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Santu Mofokeng","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47514499088538,"sku":"11773","price":800.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0350\/5704\/1545\/files\/61J0kwZTnDL-_SL1500.jpg?v=1772616362","url":"https:\/\/store.a4arts.org\/products\/stories-no-1-train-church","provider":"A4 Arts Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}