Young and Pious: A Rock & Roll Story

Photojournalist Stephanie Keith's first Christian rock show was in 2002, when she walked into a Kansas City coffeehouse and saw a punk band playing staunchly Christian tunes. "It seemed like such a contradiction in terms," she says, remembering the incongruity between the band's brash sound and its intensely Christian message. Over four years, Keith attended dozens of major Christian rock festivals -- including the New Hampshire's Soul Festival, Pennsylvania's Creation Festival, New Jersey's Autumn Blaze event and Virginia's Acquire the Fire fest -- many of which showcase the abundance of Christian punk, emo and hardcore bands. The twelve photographs that follow capture what she witnessed within the tight-knit world of Christian youth culture -- from the prayer tent to the merch table, to the front row.

[Photo by Stephanie Keith]

Mt. Union, Pennsylvania, July 2nd, 2005. Teens enjoy a band at the Creation Festival, one of the largest Christian rock events in the country, which lasts four days and draws upwards of 80,000 people. Stephanie Keith: "[The bands'] direct focus is to get people into worship mode -- putting their hands up in the air and swaying and getting into God."