Harling United Benefice Photography Project

• Visit the Harling Case Study for a written account by the Rector, Rev'd Nigel Kinsella

The photographs for this project were taken in October 2009, during just one Sunday. With only one visit available to us before the website launch it was vital that we captured every aspect of church life. Other visits were made during the week to photograph the other churches within the benefice; however it was essential that we prioritised the images taken during the one Sunday we had with East Harling Church.

While it was essential to highlight the role of the sacrament during Sunday worship in the photographs, it was equally important to document the colourful and well-attended youth church. The core of the children's photographs was taken during the sermon - a time we often spend with the church's young people. We often find that it can take just a few short minutes with the young people and we often get the right images for use on the site. It is always preferable to photograph children as they are engaged in their activities, rather than staged photographs which look posed and stiff.

The Benefice is made up of 4 rural churches and 1 semi-rural church in East Harling, the largest of the 5 churches. Although it wasn't possible to photograph the worshiping life of the other churches, mainly due to time constraints, we were able to return to the Benefice and visit each church with the Rector. We knew in advance that there was to be one individual page for each parish so the project included interior and exterior photographs of each church.

Larling church has a particularly beautiful setting: it is in the middle of a farmer's field and can only be accessed via the farmer's track. It was during the tour around the benefice that the rapeseed crop was in full flower - and, after a 5 minute walk from the church, one of the website's most colourful and engaging photographs was taken. It's always worth taking a walk to find the best vantage point. Movement (of both subject and photographer) is an important part of good photography: if we hadn't moved around the room during the youth church we would not have taken the delightful image below (top right).

The Service Begins, Choir Supports		Young Youth Group
Elevation of the Host		Singing Hymns
The Processional		Getting Involved in Drama
Older Group Perform Drama		Holy Communion at East Harling
East Harling Church		Larling Church