M E R I D I A N     M A G A Z I N E

Another Witness of the Light: The Museum of Church History and Art Showcases Two Twentieth Century Photographers
by Scot Facer Proctor

Personal Notes
Something is so powerful to me about photographing the holy sites of the New York/ Pennsylvania period of Church History. I feel a movement in my spirit. The weather is always on the run. It is impossible to predict the kind of day you will be shooting, except as a photographer you always know your series of shots in western New York will be diverse. Yet, there is more. It is hard to explain, but something about the very land or properties of the Smith family seems to speak to even the faint of hearing.

A Promise
Over twenty years ago I had a sacred experience when I first started documenting Harmony, Pennsylvania where Joseph and Emma lived and had a little 13 ½ acre plot of land. I got there late one evening after an arduous voyage through the weather of northern Pennsylvania. A storm had been raging all around me. Since my favorite time to shoot is early morning, especially the first twenty minutes of light, I make it a habit of sleeping out on the very place where I will be shooting, usually under an overhang of rock, or under a tree or behind some old structure. I like to sleep out in the elements because it gives me a better feel for the Saints who once lived in these places.

This night was horrible. The wind was blowing hard, the rain was coming down in torrents, and the occasional crack of thunder and flashes of lightning kept things a little tense. In the inclement darkness I ran over by the Aaronic Priesthood monument to see what I could see with the aid of a little flashlight. Behind the monument and surrounding that setting were some fairly good-sized pine trees. Because they looked like good protection, I grabbed my sleeping bag with a garbage bag around it, dashed back to behind the monument and slipped underneath a tree. It was actually quite dry and protected and except for the trains that went right by the spot periodically, I enjoyed a reasonable night's 'rest.'

The next morning things didn't look good. The rain had stopped but the area was completely socked in with thick, gray, billowing blankets of stormy clouds. I could see I was not going to get any good pictures of Harmony, and since I only had a couple of hours in my itinerary before I had to be on my way, I dropped to my knees and had a prayer-a prayer that would change my life.

I was simple in my approach. I basically said, "Dear Heavenly Father, I have come to this sacred and holy place of Harmony Pennsylvania. My desire is to shoot some beautiful pictures full of light. There is no light at all. If you will give me light as I need it, I promise I will use these pictures to testify of Joseph Smith and the Restoration whenever I can and wherever I go. I thank thee for the blessings thou wilt send, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." I got up from my prayer with full confidence the light would come, and I focused my Nikkormat on one of the angles to which I had taken a fancy. Immediately the clouds opened up in a spot, the light came, I shot away, the clouds closed. I went to a different angle, set up, the light came, I shot, the light departed. This happened for the entire time I was there. The light only came when I needed it. Oh, now some would say, "You were lucky, the winds were in your favor, those clouds were probably thinning out, and you just happened to get the light when you needed it." Not so. I was blessed to have the light when I needed it. I knew that it was a gift from the heavens. I could not deny it. Such a simple blessing from the heavens, but this would determine a great deal of my future. Maurine and I have had the blessing of giving over 200 firesides on the Restoration, have spoken to well over 120,000 people, have published three books on the Restoration (with photographs) and continue to do all we can to use our photographs to bless other people's lives.

The Museum of Church History and Art Display
When Robert Davis of the Church's museum came to me and presented the idea of displaying my photographs and those of Brother George Edward Anderson, I felt the tug of the promise I had made at Harmony. These are not the pictures I shot that special day, but they have come from the same motivation and desire to testify. These pictures, they say, will be seen by over 350,000 people in the next few months. That delights me to think that I can testify, though I am not there, by using these photographs, each one which I consider a gift from the heavens.

I have never taken the skills and art of photography for granted. I consider the capturing of light a gift from God and always return thanks for all that is given to us. I remember hundreds of times shooting in the Middle East, Central America and the British Isles when we prayed to ask the Lord to touch our pictures with light. I remember thinking one time after about six weeks of shooting that I wasn't sure we had been blessed with as much light as we had asked. When we saw the hundreds of rolls of film developed, the panoply of images became an overall witness to what we had experienced on the shoot but had not been able to see so clearly day to day. They were touched by beauty and light. And so it is, and so it goes.

I give thanks that the Lord allows me to take these pictures. I acknowledge His hand in these images and pray that they, along with the incredible images of my brother of the early twentieth century, George Edward Anderson, will touch you and bless your lives.

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