Amazing church photography
project complete
By Twila Buttimer
As he completed his last trip, took and printed the last photograph,
Diocesan Archivist Frank Morehouse found it hard to believe that his Church Photography Project was finished. The rest of us could hardly believe that such an ambitious project – photographing the interior and exterior of every Anglican Church in New Brunswick – was actually undertaken and completed by one person!
The five-year project involved many kilometres of travel to every corner of this diocese, many photographs taken from every imaginable angle and many hours at the computer processing and printing these images. Completion of this phenomenal project leaves the archives and the bishop’s office blessed with nine binders filled with thousands of photographs; and leaves Frank with one worn-out digital camera, a deep appreciation for the irreplaceable treasures our ancestors entrusted to us and a profound sense of gratitude to those who helped with this project. He is especially thankful for the welcome he received from clergy and parishioners throughout the diocese and the constant support of the bishop.
Frank’s is not the first church photography project in this diocese. In the 1970s, the Forgraves (the Rev. William and his wife, Patricia) took colour photographs of all the Anglican churches then existing. The late Gerry Williams of Fredericton did the same in the 1990s. A third project that included all parish buildings, was undertaken by the Diocesan Synod in 1998 for insurance purposes. Given the changing face of the “church landscape,” all of these projects are complimentary and form an important part of our recorded heritage.
The current photography project is, however, the most comprehensive because it is the first to include interior photographs of each church (and not just one or two.) This work includes views from the front of each church to the back, and from the back to the front. Individual photographs were also taken of church furnishings, the communion ware, stained glass windows, plaques, hangings and unique items, which occasionally included clergy vestments. Sometimes a second visit was required to ensure optimum conditions, like the appropriate amount of sunlight to properly illuminate the stained glass. It is this attention to detail that makes the to take the high calibre photographs which are characteristic of this project. All of this work has been printed to an exacting high standard.
As he winds up this invaluable recording of our Diocese’s “history in buildings,” Frank admits that he will “miss” this enjoyable project – which has given him a “unique education,” affording him the exclusive opportunity to visit every Anglican church and to capture forever what he saw. He also reflects that the Church Photography Project was not something that he planned or deliberately set out to do; instead it “just grew” – when the purchase of his first digital camera and his discovery of its capability to illustrate stained glass windows dovetailed nicely with his appointment as Diocesan Archivist.
For preservation and display purposes, the church photographs have been arranged artistically as a collage and then printed in page format, with between two and five pages devoted to each church. Imprinted on each page is the name of church, its location, year built/consecrated and the date(s) photographed. Each page is encased in a protective plastic sleeve and placed in a binder, with one binder for each Deanery. Copies of these binders have been transferred to the Bishop’s Office and the Archives (where they can be viewed upon request.) An electronic copy of the images will also be preserved at the Archives. Upon receiving the binders, Provincial Archivist Marion Beyea noted that the end result of this project is “a virtual gallery documenting the rich ecclesiastical material culture of the Diocese of Fredericton, based on photographs which are works of art in themselves.”
Text by Twila Buttimer of the Provincial Archives
Photographs by Frank Morehouse, Diocesan Archivist
Pictured above are: St. Mark’s, Nelson-Miramich and the reredos and altar at Christ Church Cathedral, Fredericton.
