Pat Mingarelli
[Originally published as Using Photography as Art to Worship God]
Since my early days as a photographer, I have wanted to use photography as an art form to worship God.
I remember attending a Bible study in a college dorm. On the wall was a poster of a rock climber in the mountains. He was hanging on a rock wall by a rope above a majestic valley. I looked at the poster and said to the other young man in the room, that’s what I want to do. I want to take photographs of magnificent things to glorify God.
But is that something we can truly do? Can we use photography as art to worship and glorify God? And, is photography even a form of art at all?
Let’s examine the second question first: Is photography even a form of art? Before we consider this, we need to define what art is. Some say art is a form of self-expression. It can be, but to say that’s all art is does not do justice to what art is. Someone yelling vulgarities in the street is a form of self-expression, but it certainly is not art. Art is much more than self-expression.
What is Art?
The ancient Greeks and Romans, and people living during the renaissance, viewed true art as emphasizing principles such as harmony, proportion, balance, restraint and clarity. When done right, true art is appreciated without knowing the story behind it. If one must ask the question, “What is it?” or, “What does it mean?” before being able to appreciate it, it’s not art.
Knowing what a work of art represents, or what it means may help us appreciate it more, but the beauty of the work of art should stand on its own. All art should also have a sense of creativity that shows beauty, wonder and magnificence. That beauty, wonder and magnificence ought to draw out a sense of awe in the observer.
When we look at these concepts of what art is, it’s safe to say that so much of what is called art today, is not art at all. A lot of what the world calls art today is just plain garbage that is only accepted as art because pushes forward someone’s deranged worldview. You can read more about such non-art at breakpoint,com
Photography and Art
How does photography fit in now that we know what art is. To be honest, I have met some “artists” who think photography is not art. When I was in college studying art photography, I saw a lot of photography that was supposed to be art, but it really didn’t fit into that classical view of art that is described above. So, can photography fit into that classical view? It most certainly can!
When we use light and composition to bring out such things as harmony, proportion and balance in a subject, we are using photography as art. When we use our creativity to emphasize the beauty, wonder and magnificence in an object, we are using photography as art.
Often when we photograph something, we look at it in a way to see what makes it captivating to us. And that which makes it captivating to us, is what we strive to photograph. When we visually explore such aspects with our camera to bring out the wonder and beauty we see in something, we are creating art.
When you take pictures, look for the beauty in the things you see around you. Use your camera to pull out and capture that beauty.
Worshipping God with Photography as Art
God created us to pursue beauty and to create beauty. Different people do that in different ways, depending on how God has gifted them. Painters paint, sketchers sketch, sculptors sculpt, architects design, musicians compose music and so on. And as photographers, we creatively photograph things to bring out the beauty in them.
When someone uses gifts that God has given them to the best of their ability, they can do so in a way that worships God. When I go out and photograph, I often think about photographing something in a purposeful manner to worship God. When I photograph a bird, I want to capture its beauty to worship its Creator. Can I emphasize its color, or the wonder of the shape and beauty of its feathers. I worship the same way when I photograph a butterfly on a flower. I strive to photograph that butterfly in a way that pulls out the wonder and beauty put in it by God, the author of beauty.
Also, I looked to photograph things in different ways. There’s a traditional way I can take a photograph a flower. But how can I photograph that same flower differently and show something wonderful about it? It is the same when I photograph mountains. How can I photograph them differently to show how God created them with majesty and wonder?
So, endeavor to use your photography as art and worship God with it. When you do so, it will help you connect with your Creator — the greatest and very first artist — in a unique way. When He made you in His image, He made you to create true art through the gifts He’s given you.
