by Rabbi Adam Miller, Coleman Faculty and Parent

After three years as a senior staff member at a URJ camp and eleven years as camp faculty, I have watched and listened as friends and camper parents bemoaned the photo situation.  “Why is Jacob not in more pictures?”  “Why is Sarah not smiling?”  “Aren’t those the same clothes from the last three days!?!?!”  Google “camp photo” and the word “refresh” and you will likely find a funny YouTube cartoon about the obsession of parents’ desperately waiting for the day’s photos to upload and be visible on the website.

Admittedly, even though I am here at camp as faculty, I login to the photo website.  Sure enough, within a few minutes I found myself searching through picture after picture trying to find my two Kochavim campers and one Yeladim camper (a unit for those kids of staff and faculty too young to sleep in bunks).  I loved being able to see what my children were doing when I was not present.  When I first started to check photos, I was picky; only “good” photos made my favorite folder.  Within a day it was any picture I could find of them.  All this – and I see them often.

My access to the camp pictures brought into sharper focus my understanding of what happens at camp, as well as an understanding for why parents are enthusiastic about seeing the pictures.  At the same time, those photos revealed something that those who are outside of camp may not realize.  Most of camp happens outside the frame of the photo.

One year at the lake, I watched campers taking turns on the Blob – one jumps on and sends another flying with glee into the water.  The camp photographer was present, trying to catch the moment.  On more than one occasion, the person flying into the water did not appear in the photo – they had passed outside the frame.  If that happens when the photographer is watching, imagine what life is like at the rest of camp when the photographer is not present?

We want our campers to be invested mind, body and soul in camp life. The transformative power of camp can be found in the bunk at night when campers build the foundations for lifelong friendships; on the sports field when one camper picks up his opponent who has tripped and fallen; when a counselor is there to bring laughter and lift up her campers’ spirits; when the dining room is filled with song, energy and spirit; when two campers work together on a creative prayer reading for services; and at countless other sacred moments that no camera can possibly capture.

I enjoy seeing the pictures of my children, campers from my congregation, and the many activities at camp.  But I am even happier to know that if I don’t see a picture of them today, it’s because they are having an amazing experience outside the frame.