Thinking about Art...

Today changed how I view photography forever. This is my first trip doing missions photography but I sure hope it will not be my last. This morning, I was going around capturing images of the day’s doings. As I watched one class, this little boy came up and pulled on    my shirt. He pointed to my camera, grabbed my arm, and drug me down the hall to his classroom. Putting the camera up to his eye, he started “taking” pictures of his friends and the GE team members. The only thing was he thought that a random button on the back of my camera would take the picture, he never quite figured out what the shutter button was. So I would push down the shutter button for him and he would be all excited about the picture and wanting to show it to someone. 

He and I could not communicate much, neither of us know much sign. He has only been coming to the school for a couple of months and I have only been here for two days but we connected over a camera and pictures. He loved taking the pictures and I loved seeing the joy in his face as he went around snapping pictures of this and that. Most the pictures were horrible, but that did not matter, what mattered was that I loved on him and shared the camera God has given me with him. This little boy taught me that photography is so much more than capturing the perfect image on film. Photography is about showing love to people with your camera. This can be done through the image the camera produces or the moment that using the camera produces.

This afternoon I got to teach my first photography lesson, at least the first on this trip. It was super exciting to watch as the students grasped the concept and their excitement as they went around and took pictures. I was working with three older boys. They really got into the photography and were helping each other out as they found things to photograph and took the actual pictures. It was amazing to be able to sense their enjoyment and watch them work together. What was even more amazing was watching them engage and think about the Gospel story that Ashlyn told them. I pray that the message will sink deep into each of them and bear fruit. 

Today was what photography is all about and is changing the way I view my art.

Emma