The Envelope Stuffers

Such exciting action! Sometimes editorial photography just bursts at the seams with opportunities for action shots. Then, you have the envelope stuffers. Some stories tell themsleves. This was not one of those times. I had to really look to find the shot that portrayed the story. These guy and gals who sit in a room and stuff envelopes are really special, and there's a lifetime of wisdom to be had from each one if you can coax it out of them. When a church needs to fill a position like a praise team singer or an leading actor in the Passion Play, it always seems like volunteers line up for a shot at their own 15 minutes of fame. These guys are just the opposite. Some of them are retired folks who've been quitely pitching in behind the scenes for 15 years. They come in on Fridays before the weekend services at their church and stuff inserts in all the church bulletins. Thousands of inserts. Week after week. On the surface, there's nothing in it at all for them at all. And that's the real story. An unselfish love. They come because they want to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. When I got done with my shoot, I had a pile of outtakes. Faces of the volunteer workers, closeups, even a group photo with everybody holding bulletins in their hands. But it was the over the shoulder shot of this anonymous, older gentleman's hands at work that best told the story.