The Voice

Mark 1:7-11

I have a confession to make: Sometimes I hear voices.
 
Wait, maybe that didn't come out the way I wanted it to. Let me try it again. When I see good photography I hear voices. That didn't help at all did it? Maybe I should fully explain what I'm talking about...

I have long envied the narrative tools that a photographer has at his disposal. I have always As a painter I have long desired to hold a conversation with my viewers...to tell them a story...and then have them tell me their stories. Often the images that I have painted over the years have come from stories that I have been taken with. When I paint it has usually been with the inspiration to convey the story of my subjects. This grew complicated as I matriculated through art education. This is because I soon discovered that I had been born into the last vestiges of the reign of "Art for Art's sake." Now there is nothing wrong with this approach to Art (there is actually a lot that is right with it) but when I encountered this philosophy it manifested itself in the notion that Narrative Art was dead. Well, except for photography. Photography (especially portraiture) couldn't help but be narrative. Their figures beckoned to speak to you. Their positive and negative spaces longed to tell you both sides of the story. The intricate balance between the objects in focus and those in the periphery was an interpretive dance choreographed by the aperture. The camera was not telling you just any old story but rather an intimate secret. The job of the photographer was to decide how much light to allow through the aperture hole to reveal his stories. For when we see a photograph we not only see what his eye has seen but we visually experience what his whole body has sensually experienced... and if we lean in and look closely we can also hear the voices of those photographed. That is what happened when Brandon Stanton started sharing with the world when he started posting his photographs online through social media. At first it started as a hobby while he worked as a bond trader in Chicago. He would take trips to cities like New Orleans, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia and take candid photos of people on the street. But then Brandon lost his job. So he packed up and moved to New York and to pursue his hobby full-time. Along the way he also changed his process. He still posted his images, like the one above, on Facebook and Instagram but he pushed the narrative aspect a step further. He allowed the voice of those pictured top be represented by their actual voices... or at least a written depiction of their voices. After approaching his subjects n the streets of New York and asking them if he could take their photograph he asked them questions about their story, their struggle and aspirations. In doing so Brandon Stanton taught us all the power of a portrait to portray an image and present its voice. May be you are one of the millions who bought his (New York Times Bestseller) book or Instagram followers. But even if you aren't chances are that you have seen or heard of his work in Humans of New York. If you haven't then give it a look and I promise you that you will fall in love again with the power of the narrative. It is that same narrative power that we see throughout the opening of the Gospel of Mark. In Mark 1:7-11 we still feel that introductory narrative power as we are exposed to three portraits. Through the depiction of their images and voices the tone for the rest of the gospel. and if we lean in and look closely we can also hear the voices in our lives today.

Maybe I should fully explain what I'm talking about....

"This man became very animated while discussing his ideas on happiness. He extended the index finger of each hand, and brought them very close together, as pictured: 'Babies are happy with this much,' he said. 'All they need is one ounce of milk.' Then he started to slowly widen the space between his fingers, until they were very far apart: 'Adults,' he said, 'are not even happy with this much.'
He pulled his fingers close together again: 'You only need this to be happy,' he said.
Then he pulled them far apart again: 'You do not need this.”'

The Voice in the Wilderness

"And he preached, saying, 'There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit'..."

The Gospel of Mark's portrait of John the Baptist is much like this portrait from Humans of New York. He is pictured as a devout Jewish man that would look his listeners squarely in the eye and express through word and appearance his belief that the frivolities of life had distracted us from the true riches of life. For John these riches were to be found in the revelation of the soon coming Messiah. This Messiah, or Christ, would stand in stark contrast to the religious imposters who now ruled the temple in Jerusalem. So John was happy to live the live of an acetic in the wilderness as an act of prophetic protest until the Messianic age came. But he was not content to just wait there, he would also need to prepare others for the coming of this new day. The preparation was one of purification and repentance. For the Messiah was not just coming to bring about any kingdom, but rather God's kingdom. And this Christ was just anointed to be any king but rather would reign as a the Divine King. This King was to be God himself and his subjects were to be godly. But weren't the religious authorities (the priests and Pharisees) back in Jerusalem godly? Couldn't the people use them as a guide? Sadly they were not memorized God's word and performed His sacrifices but somehow missed the significance of the message in them. So John held his own re-education camp in the desert (without the negative connotations of that phrase). With his baptism he would wash off the spiritual brainwashing that they had been victim to. With his prophecy he would foretell of Jesus' internal cleansing that he would perform on them through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit . Through both his prophetic preaching and ritual purification of baptism John the Baptist was preparing his listeners to be redeemed back to God. In John's image we see the herald of God's New Covenant . In John's voice we hear the ages old secret that God was finally revealing.        
 

The Voice of the Narrator

"...It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove..." 

If Photography is the greatest Narrative Art form then by extension the Photographer is the greatest narrator. And as with all good narration the Narrator cleverly conceals his own point of view and only depicts the actions, inspiration and intentions of the characters he depicts. One only explicitly discovers the voice of the narrator when the camera is turned on him and he finds himself the subject of someone else's artwork. That is how we get an insight into the mind and motivations of Brandon Stanton's photographs. In the above posted video we see his moving image and hear his speaking voice as he shares the story of Humans of New York. Yet when we view it we come away understanding that though he doesn't he doesn't feature self-portraits (that I have found) on Humans of New York, the whole photographic endeavor is an internal self-portrait. They are pictures of his perception and images of his imagination. When a narrator chooses to depict an image as noteworthy of edit something for presentation, he says something about it and himself. Ultimately he cannot hide the hand or persona. Each is a statement spoken in his own voice. Much like the voice of the narrator in the Gospel of Mark. Tradition tells us that the book was penned by the early Christian John Mark. We know about him from his appearance five times alone in the Book of Acts. While these mentions give us a good idea of who Mark knew, what he did and what he failed to do, if we want a more fuller perspective of who he was internally (what he thought, knew and believed) then our best portrait of him is the Gospel of Mark. Because no matter how hard he tries to cleverly conceal his own point of view and only depict the actions, inspiration and intentions of the characters in his narrative we see glimpses of Mark shine through. When the gospel writer chooses to depict an image as noteworthy of edit something for presentation, he says something about himself and what he values. He cannot hide his hand, persona or theological belief. Each is a statement spoken in his own voice and Mark's voice harmonizes with the choir of the other gospel writers and sing as one voice of orthodoxy. When Mark depicted Jesus as being baptized by John the Baptist it was because he believed that there was a historic and theological connection between the two. Their ministry's message was one and the same. When Mark depicted the Holy Spirit as descending upon Jesus after baptism, it was because he believed that there was a historic, theological and substantial connection between the two. Their essence and being are one and the same, though in different persons. As John promised his disciples, Jesus could baptize them with this Holy Spirit because he was immersing them within himself. In Jesus, God was not only revealing the Messiah but sharing the presence of the Godhead in its entirety.  Mark believed this to be the truth. This truth was good news, the Gospel, the evangel (εὐαγγέλιον euangélion), so Mark set out to do the work of an evangelist. With his evangelism he would write of Jesus' fulfillment of prophesy and redemption of Mankind. With his storytelling he was preparing his listeners to be partakers of the Holy Spirit. In John Mark's narrative voice we hear the conviction of the first followers of Christ. It is the image of those who had seen the image of the invisible God.                  

"I've never used a cellphone or computer."

The Voice of from Heaven

"...Then a voice came from heaven, 'You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased'...”
 

In this one photograph and single quote of only seven words Brandon Stanton captured our popular conception of God. We imagine him to be just like this fellow from the streets of New York: an elderly, bearded White guy who seems nice enough but has no use for our communication devices. He just strolls about by himself all day until he catches Joan Osborne's proverbial bus home alone. But unlike Brandon's photograph the God of the Gospels does seek to communicate with us. And unlike Joan's song  God of Scripture does not revel in solitude but rather seeks to reveal His Name and the whole of Himself to us. In Mark 1:7-11 God adds His voice to those at Jesus' baptism. In literature they call this technique Deus ex machina. We get it from the Ancient Greeks theater and it translates roughly to "God in the Machine." When the playwrights had brought the play to a climax by concocting a scene so over the top and unsolvable they resolved it by having one of the mythological gods descend and resolve the whole matter. Being that their was no other way to naturally bring about a happy ending to this unsalvageable mess the dramatist would lower it in from above. The actor who played the saving deity (be it Zeus or some other) would be lowered in by some sort of mechanical scaffold (the machine in the God in the machine literary device) down to the stage where the other actors were. According to Coptic tradition John Mark is said to have been from the city of Cyrene, in North Africa, but still believed to be a Jew. Whether or not he was indeed from this Greek speaking city we can still appreciate the Greek dramatic devices that he placed in his gospel that is written in Greek. Like the Greek dramatists Mark realizes that Mankind's seemingly unsalvageable tragedy can only be saved by One from above. Mark employs the Deus ex machina in Mark 1:7-11. When God speaks from heaven and says "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" he does so as the wise Deity who speaks to all humans who act throughout history. He speaks as the one who presents the key to salvation from our epic narrative of sin and travail. God the Father speaks as a follow up to His previous manifestation as God the Holy Spirit descending to earth in a metaphorical scaffold to bring down a solution from the Heavens. The Lord lends His voice as the Trinitarian climax of the introduction of His manifestation as God the Son, Jesus Christ. With His declaration He revealed who Jesus was because God and the Son are One. With his delight in Jesus' action, ministry and message He proclaims that Jesus' words are His word. Through His message God professes to all listeners that He indeed was one of us through Christ. In Jesus' image we view the fullness of the Godhead bodily. In Jesus' voice we hear the voice of God, not as a distant stranger but as a close, intimate friend.  


"One of them pointed at a passing rollerblader and said:  'Why don't you photograph him instead?'  Another one answered for me: 'Because he's not a Hasid with a chihuahua.'"

Which Voice?

Most of the photographs from Humans of New York are of single individuals, but occasionally you get an picture of a group. This particular image of a group of Hasidic Jews stands out for me because it captures a group that is representative of a greater group... a community. It causes me to reflect on the community that Brandon Stanton has created with sharing his images. His photographs are not just of solitary individuals, but portraits that are thematically interrelated by the greater narrative of what it is to be a New Yorker. We, the viewers (even those who have never visited New York), become part of this community because we are all thematically interrelated by the greater narrative of what it is to be humans. Such is the power of a masterful narrator: with the view from his eyes and the sound of his voice he can recreate our perception of our collective identity. A Narrator can make us imagine a new humanity. That is what the Gospel does to us. It hands us a new narrative. But how does it do this? What voice is it speaking to us with? Does it use First-person narrative? As I stated earlier, it is hard to say when a novel writer or biographer isn't stating their opinions through the voice of their characters... if they aren't speaking in first person while cleverly disguising it as third person. And we know that John Mark never explicitly incorporate himself in the action of the narrative (such as using the word "I"). The Gospels are a little different than this literary form. They aren't novels because John Mark believes them to be historical fact. Yet, they are also not exactly biographies. They are elongated, elaborate sermons. Sermons are written to and for a community. Just like Humans of New York, they are communities that are populated with those who follow the work of the Narrator. This sermon uses the Third-person narrative as a literary device. It speaks of the characters in the narrative as "he", "she', "it" and "they" even while we assume the theological conclusions that the work espouses are properly understood as also those of John Mark. But yet again, the Gospels are a little different than these literary forms. This is because behind the voice of the Third-person narrative where we learn of the thoughts, words and actions of John the Baptist and God, and underneath the cleverly concealed First-person narrative where John Mark encodes his authorial resides the Second-person narrative. This is where the narrator tells the story through words like "You." No, the gospel writer never explicitly writes the word "you", but his narrative drips with the juicy details of your life. The Gospel may not espouse your own opinions and you may have possibly not heretofore heard it preached but nevertheless it is about you.  When John the Baptist preached baptism for remission of sins, he was telling of the antidote for the poison that pervades your life. When Jesus ascended fro the baptismal waters to received the descending Holy Spirit, he unveiling a spiritual community with the Divine that you are invited to commune with. When God the Father spoke from Heaven "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” He turns to you and speaks “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” After all of these images and voices, God, the great Narrator of Scripture, turns his camera's gaze toward you. What will your voice say? God longs to hear your voice.