Tools of the Trade
The Nikon film camera I received for Christmas 2022.
Being a missionary’s kid sparked my interest in photography. A child of the 70s, the world was completely analog and cameras only used film. The life of a missionary family in Central America afforded few luxuries, so a single lens reflex camera with a hard shell case could easily have been interpreted at the time as somewhat of a luxury. In reality, that camera was a critical tool of the trade.
Before there was Google, there were foreign missionaries. Before travel influencers flooded the internet with images and stories of strange lands and televisions aired colour travel documentaries church people would gather together to hear stories from the daring missionaries. On any given Sunday evening the church would be filled to the brim.
At the front of the sanctuary a large portable screen would be propped up on a portable table. A smaller table would hold a carousel style slide projector with a hymnal stuck under the front feet in order to get the image on the screen. In the foyer a display complete with clothing and unique oddities would be on display. After an opening prayer and a hymn by the pastor, the presentation would begin.
The lights would be dimmed and the missionary would begin going through slide after slide, telling stories of the people shown on the slides. Guaranteed there would be slides of open-air markets, red-hot volcanos, strange fruit and vegetables, and people wearing colourful costumes. If the missionary happened to be a pilot for MAF then of course all the young ones in the room would be excited to see the photos of the airplanes and crude runways that were carved into bits of jungle.
In that era missionaries were often in “the field” for 5 year terms. After 5 years they would have a furlough term (usually 1 year) where they would have time to reconnect with family and most importantly tour churches to promote their missionary endeavours. Churches would often hold mission conferences where the church would hold services every evening for a week with new missionaries showing up each evening. The slideshow reports had two key purposes; one-to shore up financial support from influential donors and recruit the next generation of missionaries.
One of the most powerful tools to accomplish this was the slideshow and so the camera was the tool on the field which was critical to the ongoing development of the work that was happening. For example: it would be really good if you included a photo of the vehicle which had been donated to the mission work.
Remarkably, most missionaries never received any training on how to operate a camera, let alone how to compose a photo in order that it tells a story. They just knew that they would need to have something to show. And without fail the final photo would inevitably be a shot of the sun setting (sometimes taken from the window of an airplane). The line accompanying the photo would be something like this. “The sun is setting on another day in ????? yet God’s work is not done. We need more workers to make sure that everyone hears the good news. Will you be the one?”
Now with the instant reporting that can happen across social media networks and vast supply of information at our finger tips, those working in distant lands don’t inspire with a slideshow on a Tuesday night. The successful ones operate their own YouTube channel with weekly content for their supporters back home.
The camera is still a significant tool of the trade, yet the mediums to connect the pictures to the stories have changed significantly.
