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BOISE, IDAHO: Smokejumper, June 6.
December 15, 2023
The new year is a time for taking stock, reflecting on the past 12 months, and making plans for the future. For the Monitor photography team, this tradition takes tangible shape in the annual “Our Favorite Photos” feature.
Throughout 2023, the Monitor covered many “big news” events: climate disasters, wars, political upheaval, and more. And I don’t want to diminish the importance, and impact, that this turmoil had on all of us, especially on the people at the center of these events.
But as I compiled our annual photographic introspection, one thing became clear: Even during tumultuous times, Monitor photos are uplifting, intimate, and empowering. Looking at them, I feel reenergized. It is obvious that when presented with challenges, people take action to improve their lives, bond with others, and, in many cases, correct wrongs.
That’s why we focus on the people hidden behind the daily headlines. People who do their thing, in their own way, and embody the essence of their communities. These individuals doing “small things” are the real story of our societies, because millions of small things amount to a huge impact.
MANGUALDE, PORTUGAL: Sustainable farming, Aug. 30.
Some of my favorite “small stories” involved librarians in the American Midwest fighting to keep services available to all, Black Americans in the South unearthing their stories and keeping them alive, smokejumpers in the U.S. West sharing an inspiring passion for their jobs, and young people in Portugal developing their own versions of sustainable living.
When looking at the photo team’s work, I realize that what we are doing is looking in from the peripheries, beneath the noise, and discovering that most people have agency to cope with the problems they face. In the best cases, people work to improve their situation and, by extension, that of their communities.
I hope you enjoy the following selections and that these words ring true in your corner of the world.
NASHVILLE, TENN.: City safety director at a community pool, March 23.
DURHAM, N.H.: Oyster farming, Aug. 9.
SMITHFIELD, R.I.: Curling club, Jan. 11.
MCCALL, IDAHO: Smokejumper training, June 7.
LEWISTON, MAINE: A child care business, Oct. 20.
CUMBERLAND, R.I.: Bike repair shop, Feb. 17.
JEFFERSON CITY, MO.: A librarian on the job, April 25.
KINGFIELD, MAINE: Day care children at play, Oct. 20.
Click here to explore more favorite photos of 2023.
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Mark Sappenfield
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Dear Reader,
About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:
“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”
If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.
But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.
The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.
We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”
If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.
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