myself dealing with very different photographic problems. How, for instance, could I visually express the idea that subjection of the will is valued and encouraged by Christians, that it is what true believers are asked to do? A symbol (or combination of symbols or details) need not be a main element in each photograph. It might be a minor background detail in one and appear in a more dominant position in a later photograph.(14) When you compose your images to give a quick read you limit your ability to include the kind of quiet detail that resonates between photographs. Juxtapositions seem obvious and heavy-handed because the possible associations between photographs and elements in them are less richly layered.

 

Up to this point I had confined myself to the missions’ circle of churches, those churches that directly contributed either money or services to one or more of the missions. The first photograph I made that took me outside that circle was of a cross raising at the Korean Christian Church (fig. 32).

I lived a block away from the church at the time but hadn’t contacted them, because, as far as I knew, the congregation had nothing to do with the work of the missions and shelters. One day, on my way to my car, I saw a crane lifting a large cross and I photographed the cross as it was placed on the roof. I included the cross-like telephone poles and surrounding neighborhood in the frame. This photograph marked a further expansion in the conceptual circle that defined the boundaries of the project for me. I was now interested in the subject of evangelism, whether or not there was a direct link to the missions, and I continued to use the motif of cross raising as a symbol of evangelism. I thought the idea of a Korean Christianity itself testified to an effective cross-cultural evangelism, and photographing the raising of the cross brought these themes together.

Expanding Boundaries