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Another
Witness of the Light:
The Museum of Church
History and Art Showcases
Two Twentieth Century Photographers
by Scot Facer Proctor
George
Edward Anderson and Scot Facer Proctor
Gallery
3: Kirtland, Ohio Period
Background
I have made a practice over the years to read the revelations of
the Doctrine and Covenants aloud in the very places where the revelations
were received by the Prophet Joseph. I think there is something
that sets deep in the memory when you not only see, but hear the
words of the revelations within proximity of where one could have
heard the revelation first being received by the Prophet. This is
no small task in some places (like in the Kirtland Temple) but works
out in others (like on the grassy knoll where Joseph and Emma's
cabin once stood in Harmony, Pennsylvania).
When I first
visited the Newel K. Whitney store the Church had recently acquired
the property and not much restoration or refurbishing had been done.
I like to thoroughly examine each site where revelations are given.
I measure floorboards carefully. I look at angles of windows and
observe when the sunlight comes in at various times of day. I try
to see if there are patterns of where the revelations are received
in individual buildings (there are). I count the number of steps
to get to each floor of old buildings. I go under the building to
see the undergirding of timbers or rock. I measure outside and inside
dimensions. I just like to know everything about these sites.
Newel
K. Whitney Store
When I first visited the Newel K. Whitney store, as alluded to above,
I asked the caretaker missionary if it would be okay if I had a
little time alone upstairs to do some pondering and reading and
praying. He graciously allowed me all the time I wanted and I went
upstairs into what is now referred to as the Revelation Room and
commenced at the beginning of the Kirtland period and read all the
revelations received with KIRTLAND written in the headnotes of the
Doctrine and Covenants. I was not then learned enough to know that
the revelations of the Kirtland period were given in ten different
homes or buildings-so I read all sixty-five revelations out loud
in that upper room of the Newel K. Whitney store. Three hours later
I emerged (I think the older missionary was wondering if I was still
alive). Though that experience was exhausting, it set deep in the
marrow of my bones the words of this marvelous book of Doctrine
and Covenants. I have since gone back to all the various locations
and reread aloud the revelations and have had profound experiences
doing so.
Shooting
Ohio
I love photographing the various sites in Ohio. Most of my favorite
pictures I have taken in Ohio are not published in this article
and are not hanging in the Museum of Church History and Art. One
is just a simple interior of the John Johnson Farmhouse Revelation
Room. It is published in the new version of the scriptures in the
photographs section. It is just a simple photo of the room where
sixteen revelations were received, including Section 76. I just
like that picture. I have a black and white of the Chagrin River
that just moves me, and I don't even know why. It was taken on the
banks of the Chagrin not too far from where the first baptisms of
the converts in Kirtland were immersed in that stream to enter the
new and everlasting covenant of the gospel. It is published in the
Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, Revised and Enhanced Edition
that has just been released.
Feelings
for Photographs
Isn't it interesting how some photographs just move you
like that. We have had numerous people come up to us after firesides
and ask if we had seen Joseph Smith in that one shot we did of the
Sacred Grove. If it would have happened but once I would just say
that person probably needed a new prescription on her contact lenses.
But it has happened nearly a dozen times with one picture. And other
pictures have produced similar experiences. I love how shooting
pictures of sacred places can produce sacred feelings and sacred
experiences. I trust that the Lord will use the photographs as He
sees fit to bless whom He will when He wants to. I am grateful to
be an instrument.
Below you will
find seven of my photographs and two of George Edward's. I wish
you could see the John Johnson Farm and surrounds but they were
not included in the display of the Museum of Church History and
Art. Please read every caption. I have tried to be extremely personal
so that I can pull you right into the experience with me.
Proctor-Gallery
3
The Ohio Period
Click
to Enlarge
Interior of
the Newel K. Whitney Store in Kirtland, Ohio. In this very room
Joseph the Prophet first stepped foot on February 1, 1831, put his
hand out to the man across the counter and said, "Newel K. Whitney,
thou art the man!" That means, "I know you, I recognize you, you
are Newel K. Whitney." Brother Whitney had recently joined the Church
and had not ever seen the Prophet who had been living in western
New York. Newel said, "You have the best of me, I can't say the
same of you." That means, "I don't know who you are." The Joseph
said, "I am Joseph Smith the Prophet. You prayed me come here. Now,
what do you want of me?" While Joseph was yet in New York he had
seen Newel and Elizabeth Whitney in vision, kneeling in prayer,
pleading with the Lord that He would send the Prophet to come and
be with them. By Scot Facer Proctor, 1990.
Click
to Enlarge
I love this
picture. It is taken at a low angle with a very small aperture (f32)
and utilizing the focusing ring on the lens allows everything in
the picture to be in sharp focus (like I do most of my photographs).
It feels like we are about to step on this porch of Newel K. Whitney's
right where the Prophet Joseph would have stood. You can feel the
Spirit here. Wherever Joseph has walked or been you can feel the
Spirit. Imagine the Saints of those days coming and going from this
place which would be the headquarters of the Church for more than
2 years. By Scot Facer Proctor, 1990.
Click
to Enlarge
In this upper
room in the southeast corner of the Newel K. Whitney Store seventeen
revelations were received which are now canonized in the Doctrine
and Covenants. Here the revelation was given to build a temple in
this dispensation. Here the Word of Wisdom was given. Here many
parts of the Law of Consecration were revealed. Here the Prophet
knelt in prayer many times and talked with the Lord. The table you
see there belonged to Joseph and Emma. The Spirit is so strong in
this place. This was a 45 second exposure so that the light could
fill in every nook and cranny of the film. By Scot Facer Proctor,
1990.
Click
to Enlarge
Those first
sessions of the School of the Prophets were held in this upper room
of the Newel K. Whitney Store. Twenty-four brethren attended in
those early days and twenty-two of them used tobacco. The brethren
would sit around smoking and chewing and the room would be so filled
with smoke Joseph could hardly see across to the lantern on the
other side (we are standing in the doorway here). And then the brethren
would talk of the things of God. Emma came to Joseph and said, "Joseph,
don't you think it would be a good idea to talk to the Lord about
the use of tobacco in His kingdom?" Joseph felt the same, went into
the study next to this room (Brigham records it was in this room),
knelt in prayer on February 27 1833 and the Lord revealed to him
the Word of Wisdom. By Scot Facer Proctor, 1990.
Click
to Enlarge
Here we are
standing right in the Stannard Quarry located just two and a half
miles south of the temple site. The drill marks are from those early
saints who worked here getting the stone for the temple. Joseph
was the foreman in the quarry and used to say, "Come on brethren,
let's go up and work for the Lord in the quarry." You can feel the
Spirit here in the this place which has been preserved because of
a little park here, but is little known even by the locals. If you
look in between the floors of the Kirtland temple you can see the
piles of this rock (called rubble stone) stacked in a certain manner
as directed by Artemis Millet, superintendent of the temple building
project. By Scot Facer Proctor, 1990.
Click
to Enlarge
Behind this
wall, on Sunday, April 3, 1836 (Passover) the Lord Jesus Christ
appeared to Joseph and Oliver as did Moses, Elias and Elijah, the
latter three giving the keys of the kingdom they held to the two
apostles. I love how the light plays off the Kirtland Temple throughout
the day, whether off the windows or off the plaster. It is a magnificent
structure-very difficult to photograph-but magnificent. Some people
say they go here and can't feel the Spirit because the Church doesn't
own the temple any more. On the contrary, the Spirit remains here
in powerful ways and is there for those who desire to feel it. By
Scot Facer Proctor, 1990.
Click
to Enlarge
I purposely
shot this angle and exposure to represent the last days of Kirtland
when nearly half of the Church had apostatized and turned violently
against the Prophet Joseph. It became so dangerous for Joseph to
be in Kirtland he and Sidney Rigdon had to ride at midnight on January
12, 1838 to escape the danger of being killed by their own people.
Using a wide angle lens, drawing close to the temple and tilting
up gives a skewed view (called "keystoning") which I wanted to do
to capture the feeling of apostasy in Kirtland at that time. Most
of my photographs have symbolic reality behind or in them. By Scot
Facer Proctor, 1990.
Anderson-Gallery
3
The Ohio
Period
Click
to Enlarge
Brother George
Edward was able to find an angle to the east of the Kirtland Temple
right on the shores of the Chagrin River. I have searched in vain
for this same angle to match my early century counterpart. I have
hiked all over the hills and down along the river. The temple is
completely obscured from the east by the overgrown forest. The only
angle now left where the temple is highlighted as it is in the center
of this photograph is from the north, but then the photo (at this
time) is filled with massive power lines. I won't shoot that angle.
By George Edward Anderson, 1907.
Click
to Enlarge
This is one
of my favorite images of George Edward's. When you click to enlarge
this, don't miss scrolling all the way down to see what is on the
small walk. Apparently this is a piece of furniture from the period,
perhaps from the temple. He may have been alluding to the School
of the Prophets, which for a time was meeting in the temple (the
little chair is a school desk of some kind). George is shooting
this from across the street (the road is there but in 1907 was not
paved, it's just dirt and leaves; mud when it rained). He is standing
a little south and east of the temple and is about in the front
of Sidney Rigdon's home. This image is one of the best preserved
of his eastern photographs. It is crystal clear and full of amazing
detail. You can see the cemetery with some of the stones in view
just to the right of the temple. By George Edward Anderson, 1907.
Next Gallery:
The Missouri Period
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