Russia from Don Rutledge's Eyes

Don Rutledge covered Christians in Russia in the late 1980s and I think there are a few things we can learn from his coverage.

Don has the ability to tie things together in a photo like few photographers have ever done.  Here he has the pastor with the kids signing. What is so cool is the last supper photo on the wall.  It just ties it together with the symbolism.

Don Rutledge had an ability to go to a different culture and cover it even tho he didn't speak their language or understand their customs.  During his career, Don covered more than 150+ countries of the world and all 50 of the United States.Here are some audio recordings of Don as well as some links to stories he had published.

John Howard Griffin and Don Rutledge during the production of Black Like Me.

Let's review his work on Russia to see how a photojournalist can help connect the subject to the audience through the use of images.

Background 

Don didn't speak Russian and had not been to Russia before. What little he knew was from reading and talking to some missionaries who traveled the area. Don wasn't an expert on the culture, but had read a great deal before he went to Russia.

Slide show is a snippet

Don Rutledge would typically go on a coverage like Russia for about 21 to 27 days.  He would pack about 300 rolls of color slide film and about 300 rolls of black and white film. Each of these rolls was a 36 exposure roll of 35mm film.

He would usually return with some film so he didn't shoot all 21,000 possible frames.  He would easily shoot half to three fourth's of the film.

The slide show I worked on in 1987 for Don to use when he spoke to groups about his coverage.

I liked using this as the opener for the Slide Show because I think it says Russia and announces where this story takes place.

How it is divided

The slide show is divided into an overview of the country, a section on the culture, section on the Russian Orthodox Church and then series of pastors and leaders with their families.

When this was being done the distribution of the story was done in The Commission Magazine. The magazine was regularly competing and beating magazines like National Geographic Magazine.

The magazine normally started stories with 1 to 3 double truck spreads to introduce the country.  Don captured things that not just showed what the country looked like, but in a way contrasting it to the audience in the United States.

You can see the architecture and the man trimming the tops of the trees. What struck Don was how neat everything was and this was something that not just showed what it looked like, but the man gives size and scale to the photo as well as showing how they keep everything so groomed.

Don ended taking tours of the churches in Moscow to help show the Americans how they view the church. On the tours they were showing all the gold and art work in the previous church buildings.  They would tell the people this is how the church acted in the past, they took all your money and then used it to decorate.

Showing the theater helped connect the Americans to something we had in common. Our love of the theater and the Opera in Moscow is considered one of the best in the world. 

Then Don helps us transition through the Russion Orthodox church to help the Baptists in the states see some sense of faith in Russia.

Baptists in Russia are so many and the church buildings are so small that they are overflowing into the street.  Here you see how they listen to the service inside the building. 

Don continues to show artistic moments that also communicate something similar and yet different in almost every frame.  The Russians outside in worship look like Americans but we don't sit outside our churches to hear the worship service.

Don helps the audience connect with the subject using everyday life moments. He captures people cooking, in their homes and with their families.

Pastor enjoys going around town with his family.

This is just a taste of some of the things I learned from Don from his coverage on Russia. 

If you really want to learn how to do a coverage like Don did on Russia you can join me in Tibet.  The workshop will help teach you how to put a coverage together like this and then also help you to keep your audience in mind as you shoot.  We will shoot together and then review our work in Tibet, this way you can go out the same day or next and fill in the missing holes.

I hope you will consider joining me in August in Tibet.  Click here to learn more about the Tibet Workshop.