Faith In Action by Alberta Lindsey

Camera Connection Nea Finds the Artist Within

When Margie Nea looks through the lens of her camera into the eyes               of a child, she sees that child’s soul.
Their eyes are windows to their souls, said Nea, a Richmond photographer who travels the world taking pictures of children, women  and nature.
“Sometimes their eyes twinkle with joy. Other times their eyes tell of the sadness of their region. Always they make an enduring impression,” Nea wrote in the introduction to her latest book, “Children: Eyes of the Soul.”
In the last 15 years, she has traveled to many developing countries, including Kenya, Ecuador, Haiti, Mexico, India, Nepal and Guatemala. In late March, she headed to southern Sudan. Her heart is interwoven with each place she visits and each child she meets.

Light in Darkness
Known professionally as Margaret Woodson Nea, she was deeply touched on a recent trip to Zambia when a 13-year-old girl read a passage from her Bible. Sitting in a dark hut with only a candle for light, the girl read from Psalm 27: “The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?”
“To be with her and to feel her faith was such an extraordinary experience for me. Psalm 27 is one of my family’s favorites. I’ve heard those words all my life,” Nea said.
Photography is a second career for Nea, who has a strong personal connection with children. The mother of two daughters and grandmother to five taught young children for 20 years before trading the blackboard for a camera.
Nea laughs when she talks about her career change.
She was working on a master’s of humanities with a concentration in art history and religion at the University of Richmond. Her last class was about art and the Bible, which she took at Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond.
The seminary professor said that “there is an artist within each of us,” Nea recalled. “He wanted us to not only study the beautiful art of the world and the Bible but to find the artist within our own spirit.”

A Borrowed Camera
She borrowed a camera and a tripod and attended a photo workshop in Maine. Not only did she celebrate her 50th birthday the week of the workshop, she became hooked on photography.
“Everything I’ve done since then has been a leap of faith. It was a leap of faith to take a class in photography when I didn’t know how to get the camera off the tripod. It was a leap of faith to stay in that class with people who knew what they were doing.”
After the workshop, she began photographing gardens, mountains and the natural beauty in Virginia. Her work has been exhibited in the United Nations, International Photography Hall of Fame and Princeton University and in Richmond at the Children’s Museum of Richmond and Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. Her photographs also appear in “Children: Gifts of the Spirit,” in “Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello” and “The Gardens of Monticello.”

Travels Touched the Heart
In 1994, Nea took her second leap of faith when a close friend suggested she go to Kenya and photograph. Since then she has traveled by plane, truck and on foot in 18 countries.
“I had the same feeling in Kenya that I had during the Maine workshop. It touched my heart so deeply I had to continue,” she said.
Looking through the lens in her camera is an extension of herself. Like focusing on the eyes of a child, she zooms in to capture the deepest part of a flower, or what she considers its soul. “I connect with a moment in time. It is so natural,” she said.
The photographer also is struck by the strength and dignity of the women she meets around the world. “There is something extraordinary about the strength in their faces,” Nea said.

Beauty Around the World
Her favorite place to photograph is Nepal. “I just loved the beauty and the warmth of the people and the simplicity of their lives, the snow-capped mountains, the mist,” said Nea, who spent eight days trekking 10,000 feet up into the mountains and coming upon a hut here and there.
She also loves Africa. “There is something about the color and joyfulness of the people. There is something so primal there, I feel like I’m going back to the beginning of time,” Nea said.
“Whatever place I go there are people who have not seen hair and skin like mine. Children laugh and giggle. This big black thing around my neck scares children. I never take a picture unless there’s eye contact or something that lets me know they are okay with it.”
“I don’t want to take a picture of someone who truly believes you are taking a piece of their soul,” she said, recalling a woman who didn’t want to be photographed because she thought her soul would be taken far away from her home.
“I’m continually grateful for this tremendous blessing in the second half of my life. I feel an obligation to share this gift.”

Alberta Lindsey spent 42 years as a newspaper reporter. Now a freelance writer in Richmond, she enjoys reading mysteries, traveling and photography.

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