More Photography as a Spiritual Practice
A Visit to Monticello
Guest Writer: Alan Schlesinger
I made this photograph in April 2019 with my mobile phone as my wife and I got off the shuttle bus which took us from the visitor’s center at Monticello to Thomas Jefferson’s home. The couple in the photograph had exited the shuttle bus just before us. I hesitated to share the image with them because I hadn’t even spoken to them and didn't want them to think I was a voyeur. They went on the guided tour that left from the front of Jefferson’s home a half an hour before our tour. I regretted not sharing the photograph with the couple, but I saw them later after our tour and showed it to them and offered to text it to them. They said thank you, and the women gave me her mobile phone number, and I sent the image. The next day I received this moving response:
“This is so hauntingly beautiful. Thank you so much for your kindness. My husband is seriously ill and many days are such a struggle. We take each day and with all the strength we have, we rejoice in the beauty around us. This image just seemed to capture so much of what we are, how we feel and how breathless God’s beauty is. Aging, pain, rain, disappointments are just a shadowy silhouette in the reality of His majestic creation. We will treasure this always.” Robert and Carol Cooke
I was so glad that I had approached them, and this changed my attitude about approaching people that I have candidly photographed as I realized that missing the opportunity to share an important image like this was too big of a price to pay to avoid a potentially uncomfortable encounter if the people I have photographed are unhappy that I made the image. When I later approached them for permission to use this picture, this was Carol’s response:
You can never know how timely and touching your text was this morning. Bo, my husband, is in the hospital as I write this (with advanced cancer). We were conflicted in our decision to even go to Monticello that day. It was cold, raining, and he was really struggling. But...we went! And... you took that amazing picture that we have shared with so many.
Your message to me... two old, struggling travelers, climbing a hill on a rainy day, holding onto each other for support to visit a beautiful place were captured in an image by a gifted believer. The story of that image has already been shared with many people. We had no determined plan to “serve God” in that moment. But God predetermined that He would bring all the elements together at that moment in time to show “Himself.”
We had a “God embrace” with your message...a reminder that simply struggling up a hill on a rainy day, just showing up, using your gift is “serving.”
Alan