⊙놀라운 은혜(Amazing Grace)

⊙놀라운 은혜(Amazing Grace)

 

1918년, 미국 미네소타 주 보베이(Bovey)라는 작은 탄광촌에서 사진관을 운영하는 사람이 있었습니다. 그의 이름은 에릭 엔스트롬(Eric Enstrom)입니다

 

어느 날 아주 백발이 성성하고 세상사에 몹시 지쳐 보이는 야위고 남루한 한 노인이 보잘 것 없는 신발털개를 팔러 왔습니다.

 

그 노인은 아주 초라한 모습으로 사진관에 들어와 잠깐 쉬고자 했습니다.

몹시 시장했던지 테이블 앞에 앉아 식사를 했습니다.

그런데 이 노인이 소박한 빵과 스프를 앞에 두고 감사기도를 드렸습니다.

 

사진사인 엔스트롬은 그 모습을 보고 큰 감동과 전율을 느꼈습니다.

작은 것에도 하느님 아버지께 감사 기도를 드리는 초라한 그 노인이 큰 사람으로 보였습니다.

 

엔스트롬은 그 노인을 보며 이런 생각을 했습니다.

“이 노인은 세상적인 것들을 많이 갖지는 못했지만 다른 사람들보다 더 많은 것을 가졌구나.

그는 감사할 줄 아는 마음을 가졌으니까.”

 

비록 그 노인은 가난하고 삶에 지친 모습이었지만 그의 소박한 감사기도 속에서 그 노인이 세상 그 누구보다 부유한 사람임을 깨닫게 된 것입니다.

 

그는 그 자리에서 노인의 사진을 찍었습니다.

그리고 나중에 이 흑백 사진을 보고 엔스트롬의 딸 로다 나이버그(Rhoda Nyberg)도 큰 감동을 받아 그녀가 태어나기 1년 전에 아버지가 찍은 이 사진을 유화로 그린 작품이 바로 감사 기도하는 노인의 모습을 그린 유화 작품입니다

 

 

엔스트롬은 이 사진을 통해 당시 세계 제1차 대전으로 인해 고통 받고 있는 많은 사람들에게아직 감사할 것이 많이 남아 있다는 것을 보여주고 싶어 삶에 지친 노인이 빵 한조각과 스프를 가지고도 감사기도를 드리고 있는 이 사진을 미네소타주 사진전에 출품하여 미네소타 주의 사진으로 선정이 되었습니다.

 

너무나 유명한 이 그림의 제목은 “The Grace(은혜)” “감사기도”라고 합니다.

 

 

History and background

Wikipedia

 

1918 original black and white photo.

Later versions may have color or a second light source added.

 

A later version with a second light source added

 

The original photograph was taken at Enstrom's photography studio in Bovey, Minnesota. Most sources indicate 1918 as the year, though Enstrom's daughter Rhoda, born in 1917, claimed to remember being present when the photograph was taken, which might have been around 1920.

 

The man depicted in the photograph is Charles Wilden, who earned a meager living as a peddler and lived in a sod house. While the photograph conveys a sense of piety to many viewers, according to the Enstrom family's story, the book seen in the photo is actually a dictionary.

 

However Wilden wrote "Bible" on the waiver of rights to the photo which he signed in exchange for payment, giving credence to the idea that, even if the actual prop used was a dictionary, it was a proxy representing a bible in the photograph.

 

Likewise, local stories about Wilden "centered more around drinking and not accomplishing very much", than religious observation.

 

What happened to Wilden after the photograph is unknown. In 1926, he was paid $5 by Enstrom in return for waiving his rights to the photograph; he disappeared thereafter. After the photograph became popular, Enstrom attempted to track Wilden down but was unsuccessful. Numerous family members and local historians have also attempted to determine what became of Wilden, but have not been able to locate definitive evidence.

 

Enstrom first licensed the photograph to Augsburg Publishing House in 1930. In the 1940s, his daughter, Rhoda Nyberg, colorized the photo by hand. This version was featured in prints produced during the 1940s onward and became the more widespread and popularly known version of the photo.

 

Enstrom earned a modest sum from the photograph for the remainder of his life until his death in 1968. Nyberg died in 2012.

 

 

CAPTURING MAGIC THROUGH THE LENS

(gracebyenstrom.com)

 

 

Back in the year of 1918, a bearded, saintly, old man, with foot-scrapers to sell, called on Eric Enstrom at his photography studio in the tiny mining town of Bovey, Minnesota.

 

From this chance encounter a world-famous photographic study was created. Today Enstrom’s picture Grace, showing the elderly peddler with head bowed in a mealtime prayer of thanksgiving, is known and loved throughout the world.

 

“There was something about the old gentleman’s face that immediately impressed me. I saw that he had a kind face… there weren’t any harsh lines in it,” Enstrom said in recalling the 1918 visit of Charles Wilden to his studio.

 

It happened that Enstrom, at that time, was preparing a portfolio of pictures to take with him to a convention of the Minnesota Photographer’s Association. “I wanted to take a picture that would show people that even though they had to do without many things because of the war they still had much to be thankful for,” Enstrom said.

 

On a small table, Enstrom placed a family book, some spectacles, a bowl of gruel, a loaf of bread, and a knife on the table. Then he had Wilden pose in a manner of prayer… praying with folded hands to his brow before partaking of a meager meal.

 

To bow his head in prayer seemed to be characteristic of the elderly visitor, Enstrom recalled, for he struck the pose very easily and naturally.

 

As soon as the negative was developed, Enstrom was sure he had something special… a picture that seemed to say, “This man doesn’t have much of earthly goods, but he has more than most people because he has a thankful heart.” That Enstrom’s camera had captured “something special” is an appraisal widely shared.

 

Today many Grace pictures hang in homes, restaurants and in churches across America. Prints have also been shipped to mission stations and other places around the world.

 

The early Grace pictures were printed either in black and white, or in sepia. Later, Enstrom’s daughter, Mrs. Rhoda Nyberg, of Coleraine, Minnesota, began hand-painting them in oils and interest in the picture mounted.

 

Enstrom remembers that his best customers for the picture in the early 1920’s were people traveling through Bovey, Minnesota who saw the picture in his studio window. As soon as one framed print was sold, he’d make another to take its place.

 

After nearly a half-century as a professional photographer, a career dating back to 1900 in Minneapolis and to 1907 in Bovey, Minnesota, Enstrom listed Grace as the best of the thousands of pictures he has taken.

 

© 2018 Grace by Enstrom

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MINNESOTA – STATE PHOTOGRAPH

(gracebyenstrom.com)

 

Grace, by Enstrom. Rhoda Enstrom, Eric Enstrom's daughter.

 

The photograph “Grace” was adopted as the state photograph in 2002.

 

The photograph “Grace,” depicting an elderly man bowing his head and giving thanks, was taken in Bovey, Minnesota in 1918 by Eric Enstrom, and was adopted as the official state photograph in 2002.

 

A copy of the photograph is on display in the secretary of state’s office in St. Paul.

 

“Amazing Grace”

 

When Charles Wilden went door-to-door in Bovey trying desperately to sell shoe-scraper in the early 20th century, he probably never imagined his face would be seen all around the world.

 

But on Wednesday, Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer placed Eric Enstrom’s “Grace” on her office walls. The 1918 photograph of Wilden was designated the official state photograph last week.

 

“I remember this picture from the time I was a child,” said a teary Rhoda Nyberg, Enstrom’s daughter. “We were very proud of it. This is going to be something his grandkids … and his great-grandkids are going to remember for a long time.”

 

Generations of Enstrom’s family — his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren — traveled down to St. Paul to celebrate as a piece of family history became a piece of state history. Enstrom’s photo depicts the humbleness and grace of Wilden, with his hands folded and his head lowered, praying over a loaf of bread.

 

Rep. Loren Solberg, DFL-Bovey, said that Nyberg used to watercolor the black and white photos for those who flooded the family business. If someone requested Wilden have a red shirt, she painted a red shirt.

 

Popularity soared by 1945 and Enstrom sold the copyrights to Augsburg Publishing House because he couldn’t keep up with the demand for the popular religious image.

 

Last session, the Legislature passed a resolution urging the U.S. Postal Service to reproduce “Grace” onto a postage stamp. It usually takes the service two to three years to decide whether or not to accept the recommendations.

 

Sen. Bob Lessard, I-International Falls, said he received some complaints about his and Rep. Loren Solberg’s efforts to give Enstrom’s photo the recognition it deserves. Some did not like the idea designating a photo that has a religious theme. “That is not what it’s about,” he said. “This picture I think represents an elderly person showing his emotions, showing how he feels.”

 

It’s world-renowned, Lessard added. He received a letter from someone in the armed services that saw the picture in Afghanistan. Nyberg remembered reading letters from people in Europe for the wars that spotted her father’s work across the ocean.

 

Kiffmeyer said the picture is an appropriate fit for the Minnesota state photograph.

 

“This is something I think we can all rally around,” she said.

 

© 2018 Grace by Enstrom

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