A View from Inside the Rapture

A father and his son, members of Harold Camping's church, by Brandon Tauszik

When prophet of doom Harold Camping predicted that the world would end on May 21, most of us laughed. Brandon Tauszik got a scoop. Tauszik, who owns a video production company in Oakland, California, not far from the headquarters of Camping’s Family Radio organization, says he was intrigued, “as a Christian,” by the Camping-sponsored end-times billboards he saw around town. He began attending Camping’s weekly sermons and the people (“Predominately white, 50 years and up") who showed up at his church. He was welcomed warmly and allowed to take pictures, giving him an insider's view of the end of the world.  On May 21, when earthquakes were supposed to herald the Rapture, Tauszek went to Camping’s home. “The car was gone,” he says. The next morning, when it was clear that the Rapture had been put on hold, Tauszik photographed a bewildred-looking Camping at his front door. Later he went to Camping’s church and photographed the followers who’d gathered there. One guy, Louie, expressed his deep disappointment that the end had not come. “Now I have to go back to New York,” he said. Here are some of the images.

Camping speaking to his congregation 

Literature produced by Camping's Family Radio organization

Camping after the Rapture failed to manifest itself

Disappointed Camping follower Louie: “Now I have to go back to New York,” he said.