St Peter's Church Morley Photography Project

'Beyond Church' at St Peter's Morley was a chance for us to work with a family orientated church. The photo project was designed to not only capture the separate 'activity based' sessions in the church hall, but also the lively blend of all age ranges during 'All Age Worship'. The task for the most part was to be as unobtrusive as possible - if a child knows a camera is pointing at them, their instinct is to stop what they're doing and smile. We wanted to capture the active life of the church; this was achieved over a number of weekend visits, spending time with families and getting to know not just the key people within the church, but also the children.

The space within the church meant that we could move around the church without being 'in the way'. This helped us to get some of the photos you see below. The elevated position afforded by the West Gallery was helpful when photographing families interacting with one another. It also allowed us to photograph a baptism, capturing the moment using a 300mm zoom lens from the back of the gallery. Most of the images you see below were taken 'at distance': the subject wasn't even aware they were being photographed - which is how we like it!

The welcoming and 'accepting' nature of the Ministry Team and congregation meant we were able to capture a more 'journalistic' style portfolio. People need to feel relaxed when being photographed, especially in an environment such as the church: having a photographer in the aisles can be distracting (despite best efforts to blend in). At St Peter's the congregation were very accepting of our presence and this made the task of completing the project that much easier. Upon reflection, and after discussion with the Vicar, the contributing factor to this was planning: each Sunday (4 Sundays in total) leading up to the first visit the Vicar would outline what was to happen. Our website was circulated to encourage them to see the other sites (and photography projects) we had worked on. So when we finally arrived we were warmly welcomed and accepted without hesitation.

Palm Sunday: All Age Worship		Holy Communion Service
Sharing the Peace		Music Group at All Age Worship
Receiving Communion		Prayerful Moment
Quiet Moment at All Age Worship		Website Launch July 2009
Sharing Fellowship After the Service		Children Report on Bread Making