This writer has enjoyed seeing the world, approximately 137 countries, and all of the United States without ever leaving his own home.
Most of the traveling was done with the help of The Commission Magazine and Missions USA. Both magazines have won some of the highest awards in the country. The Commission Magazine has placed third in magazines in the “Pictures of The Year” contest sponsored by the National Press Photographers Association in 1989 and 1990. Missions USA has earned similar awards. These Southern Baptist magazines are in league with National Geographic and Life Magazine for their photography and design. The reason for their success can be significantly tied to Don Rutledge. For this reason, this writer is doing his thesis on Don Rutledge for publication.
Don has worked for the Black Star photo agency in New York for over thirty years. He has also worked for the Home Mission and the Foreign Mission Boards of the SBC. He has won more than 400 awards for his work. In addition, he has been published in many magazines and books around the globe. His career has taken him throughout all fifty states, Canada, and 135 countries.
Today, Rutledge is a mentor to many professional photographers and students. All of the photojournalists in the Southern Baptist Convention point to Don as the reason they are where they are today. All of them hope one day to make the impact he has already made for Southern Baptists and the cause of missions.
Having worked with Don Rutledge for many years, this writer has developed an excellent appreciation for him. He has understood that working with people is the common thread that binds all those in ministry. Don works with people so well that he has made significant changes in magazines with his soft, encouraging voice. Wherever Don goes, he makes many friends.
Don’s ability with people is a gift. Don puts people at ease with or without his camera. This is a talent envied by photojournalists the world over. Those in the field of Christian photojournalism understand where this gift came from. They know how Don’s faith is lived out through his camera.
As one looks at Don’s photographs, one feels he is in the room with the people. Don becomes a part of the woodwork wherever he goes. He blends in so well that people can be themselves. His subjects looked as though Don was not present. They are not reacting to his presence but are free to be themselves. Don has allowed God to be so much a part of his work that when one speaks of how Don is a part of the woodwork, one can picture how the Holy Spirit works through him.
Figure 3 In 1967, Don Rutledge went inside the Artic Circle and captured this Eskimo child playing.
His reputation often precedes Don, now that people know of his integrity without ever meeting him. They can see a man who gives dignity to his subjects. Often, many photographers today will exploit their subjects. They photograph a handicapped person and exaggerate his handicap so that one never really sees the person. Don’s photos call one to feel a part of the person. Don says the eyes are the windows to the soul. He reveals the innermost aspect of people in a brief instant that is frozen on film. The more one looks at the photograph, the more one sees. He packs so much information into a photograph that one can go over and over it and see something new every time—Don includes small details in his photographs like a good writer who pulls his reader into the situation.
Don studied to be a psychologist and worked on his doctorate in the field. He also studied for the ministry and was a pastor for a short period. He still uses his psychology in photographing people, and his pictures reach more than 1.5 million weekly.
Don’s work has helped people see the result of missionaries’ work worldwide. In addition, he has helped the mission board reach the world for Christ.
Growing up as a home missionary kid helped this writer realize the importance of relationships in ministry. This writer felt the call to the church and went a traditional route of majoring in social work and planning to go on to the seminary to become a pastor. While in college, this writer discovered photography and the camera’s power as a communication tool. Knolan Benfield, Jr., was a photographer who worked on Missions USA magazine and introduced this writer to Don Rutledge. This writer was intrigued by the work that Don did on the magazine.
After talking with Don, this writer felt redirected in his call to be a minister who used the camera as a central part of his ministry. Many who are Christian photojournalists have struggled with the call. In many ways, the Christian photojournalist is a preacher. The photojournalist’s illustrations are not done with words in the pulpit but with photographs on the printed page.
As one will see, Don’s work is powerful, and his style can be seen in most photojournalists who work for the Southern Baptists. They will tell you they hope someday to be like Don.
Don dreams of publications combining words and pictures effectively to communicate God’s concerns in his heart. This driving force in Don is the Holy Spirit convicting him of the message of missions. His photographs have one common theme: Love. They have moved people to become involved in tasks. God has called them into missionary service after they looked at the mission field through the “eyes of Don.” Don’s work has helped meet the needs of people worldwide.
When considering the skills of Don Rutledge, one can see that he could have become very wealthy from his photography if he had not worked with Southern Baptists. In the three months before coming to work with Southern Baptists, he made more than he would make in the next two years working with Southern Baptists. His decision to be a minister with a camera meant choosing the narrow road. Don decided to follow Jesus Christ. Due to his following Christ, his work as a Christian photojournalist has helped spread the gospel worldwide.
[1]Howard I. Feinberg, The Best of Photojournalism 16: The Year in Pictures, (Philadelphia: Running Press Book Publishers, 1991), 232.
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