A Thousand Words for Lack of a Picture

A Thousand Words for Lack of a Picture

by Zack Roehl

Of course we’ve all heard that a picture is worth a thousand words. It’s true. Each picture has its own story. But what exactly is that story and how often do we stop to consider just what the story of our picture will be before we take it? It’s not often that we have to. In the digital age we live in we don’t have to. We don’t pay for film, and it’s simple enough to go back and edit or hit “delete” on all the pictures we’ve taken but don’t really care for. It seems like a good enough philosophy when applied to photography, but it can be dangerous when it is applied to other areas of our lives.

A first impression and a picture have a lot in common. Both capture a single moment in time. Then they sit there frozen and unchanging waiting for us to reflect on them at a later time. They are, however, fundamentally different. Impressions, unlike pictures, have no delete option. Impressions are the basis of relationships, and relationships are always our aim as Christ-followers. And if relationships are founded upon and developed out of our impressions, then—following the same logic—we should always be conscious that our impressions are accurate, and in accord with the Gospel we proclaim.

Before I got to Zambia I had never really had to consider the point where impression and photography intersect. Before our group went to the Havens for the first time we sat down and had a discussion about picture-taking at the orphanage. We talked about the different lenses through which we view life, and discussed how that affected our reality and our relationships with the people there. We were told we wouldn’t be taking any pictures, at least for a while. This guideline has helped our relationships with the aunties and children at the Havens in more ways than I can describe. Of the many reasons said for not taking photos that were offered up in our talk, a few really stuck with me and affected how my understanding has developed in the few short weeks that we’ve been here.

The first reason, in essence, is that when we are so focused on our camera lens we are failing to truly, wholly experience the place to which we’ve come. God has given humanity an ability to perceive so many things simultaneously, and I believe this is to help us understand His majesty and His glory in creation. We limit our ability to express this when our vision is concentrated on a tiny rectangular frame. I’m not saying that there aren’t times to take pictures by any means. Let’s view it in light of Ecclesiastes 3. There’s a time that’s for pictures and a time that’s not for pictures, and at the Havens our time for pictures will come when we are more thoroughly acquainted with the aunties and the children.

I personally believe there is something dehumanizing about taking pictures of a person’s misfortune simply because it is there in front of me. After our discussion of picture-taking at the Havens I wonder if taking pictures of people here simply because they’re different from us can be viewed as akin to taking pictures of animals in a zoo. The reason we take pictures in zoos is because the animals are different, exotic, exciting. That’s not why I’m going to take pictures of people here. I’m going to take pictures where I’ve built relationships so that I can tell you the thousand words my picture is worth to me, not so that someone can try to attach a thousand words to it that may not reflect the reality of this eternally significant human life.

And that’s reason number two. Pictures we take are incapable of capturing the “big picture.” In fact, they can often be used to misrepresent it. A “bad picture” is often a good picture with misleading information. This point is represented with a simple illustration that will hopefully bring clarity to reason number two:

The story of God is the “big picture” we’re looking at. Even parts of that big and perfect picture, though, can be misconstrued, misused, and misinterpreted when the context is ignored. Psalm 10:1 says, “Why, O LORD, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” The second sentence of Ecclesiastes 1:13 says, “It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.” In Matthew 10:34 Jesus tells his Disciples, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” James 2:24 tells us, “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.”

The point of this illustration is that parts may be entirely misrepresentative of the whole of a story. When isolated, these verses give us a big picture of a God that refuses to help us in our troubles. A sadistic God. A violent God. A God that requires us to save ourselves. We know that these ideas are false. This God exists within the “pictures” presented, but nowhere else. We understand these verses in their contexts because we have been presented the entire picture through God’s Word to us, and we are helped by His Spirit. It’s because we know Him.

As we learn, experience, and become more familiar with Zambia and Africa as a whole I know we will end up taking more pictures than we’ll ever be able to look at, but for now I think it’s safe to say we are taking it slow in hopes of learning more about this culture so that we can snap an accurate picture for everyone back in America to see.

In summary we have decided to be careful that the pictures we’re taking are good ones. The ones we can tell our thousand words about.