Why No Pictures From The Fatima Event?

I've always wondered why there are only crowd shots of the people looking into the sky at Fatima and why I can't find any pictures of someone taking pictures of the event itself? Was it deemed too religious/miraculous and shouldn't have pictures taken of it? That has always struck me as odd. What's your take?

It's my understanding that the people present only witnessed a solar event, my guess some serious flares or maybe a CME, and while it was the 3 little girls that had the vision of Jesus, Our Lady of Sorrows, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (I don't know what those are, perhaps someone with knowledge of Catholicism can chip in?) and St. Joseph

From Wikipedia:

Location of Fátima, Portugal
The Miracle of the Sun (Portuguese: O Milagre do Sol) was an event on 13 October 1917 which was attended by 30,000 to 100,000 people, who were gathered near Fátima, Portugal. Several newspaper reporters were in attendance and they took testimony from many people who claimed to have witnessed extraordinary solar activity. This recorded testimony was later added to by an Italian Catholic priest and researcher in the 1940s.
According to these reports, the event lasted approximately ten minutes.[1] The three children also reported seeing a panorama of visions, including those of Jesus, Our Lady of Sorrows, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, and of Saint Joseph blessing the people.[2]
The event was officially accepted as a miracle by the Roman Catholic Church on 13 October 1930. On 13 October 1951, the papal legate, Cardinal Tedeschini, told the million people gathered at Fátima that on 30 October, 31 October, 1 November, and 8 November 1950, Pope Pius XII himself witnessed the miracle of the sun from the Vatican gardens.[3]

October 13th hmmm.Research October 13th.Has nothing to do with Fatima.

reply to post by MadhatterTheGreat

Yes, the most natural explanation is that the photographers themselves saw nothing, and recorded the only thing they could.see happening.
(But camera ownership was less widespread in those days, so it's possible that these were press photographers)

reply to post by 13th Zodiac


It kinda had everything to do with Fatima

Three shepherd children, ten-year-old Lucia Santos and her two cousins, worked in a field called Cova da Iria near Fátima, Portugal, in 1917, during the first World War. Over a period of six months, the children reported a long series of religious apparitions, the most extraordinary of which were six visits from the Virgin Mary herself. Mary told the children many things, including three famous secrets; but the most extraordinary revelation was that on October 13 of that year, they would witness a miracle. The children's reports of these apparitions in the village church attracted the attention of a local newspaper or two, which in turn attracted the attention of a regional newspaper or two; and soon the Cova da Iria fields turned into something of a Grand Central Station of miracle seekers. And, on October 13, as many as 100,000 believers packed the area, and just as the Virgin Mary foretold, they witnessed an inexplicable miracle in the sky: From behind the rain clouds, the sun came out, danced, changed colors, spun like a pinwheel, and made a most sensational demonstration. Photographs and articles plastered the newspapers of the world, and thirteen years to the day later, it was officially recognized as a miracle by the Roman Catholic Church.

reply to post by MadhatterTheGreat

It WAS 1917...and only a few people there....a very few...even owned cameras...unlike today...where everyone does...

reply to post by mysterioustranger

And what would have been needed for a clear data pool of the event would have been a vid of the sun dancing in the sky. Then if it were on youtube, we'd have threads of "UFO over Fatima" on ATS, and people would chop it so pirates and Waldo would appear in the crowd. So I guess Mary has to get up off her couch and make another appearance now, in the video-age, and pass along some more information to catholic children (like "If a priest is about to put you on his lap, run!!!")

reply to post by Aleister

Great gosh AL! Ya got me rollin at m' desk! Funny how people relate only in terms that they know tech-wise these days.
There was most likely only 2 at most cameras at Fatima. Maybe you can appreciate this:

A teen girl asked what a "pay phone" was. She was told they are on the streets, at gas stations, resturants, bars, amusement pks...nearly everywhere there is a pay phone (use to be). Need to make a call while riding around? Find one, get out of the car and put $$$ in one and call...."Money? How much does a call cost?"
(Used to be 10 cents, then 20 cents, and then a quarter...unless its long distance.)

Well, she eventually needed one. Couldnt find any anywhere. Finally found one...took it off the hook...put a quarter in...stared at it a really long time and said....(can you guess what she asked?).....

"How do I TEXT on this thing with no SCREEN"....(you cant, and there is no screen)!!!!!!!!!!!

There is photograph. It is the only one known, supposed to show "The Miracle of the Sun."
Just google it. It looks like a picture of the sun through clouds.

Originally posted by MadhatterTheGreat
I've always wondered why there are only crowd shots of the people looking into the sky at Fatima and why I can't find any pictures of someone taking pictures of the event itself? Was it deemed too religious/miraculous and shouldn't have pictures taken of it? That has always struck me as odd. What's your take?

Not Fatima, but.....
news.bbc.co.uk...

Eye fears over holy shrine 'visions'
An Irish eye surgeon has said an "unprecedented" rise in the number of cases of an eye condition could be directly related to people staring at the sun at a holy shrine.....

At this and at another event on 11 October, some people claimed to have seen the sun "dancing in the sky".

Solar retinopathy, or eclipse retinopathy as it is also known, can cause a significant reduction in vision. It can also lead to altered images, altered colour perception and blind spots.

While most people will recover their vision within six months, solar retinopathy has the potential to have a long-term degenerative effect on the retina.

He said that reports of people seeing colours dancing in front of the sun could also be explained by the condition, describing it as "sort of a cheap trick".

"If you stare at the sun for long enough you're going to get some visual disturbances. Not only will you get reduced vision but also a condition called metamorphopsia," he said, adding that this could explain such visual alterations.

reply to post by Aleister


Totally un-called for and immature.

I think the point that everyone is missing here is the interconnectedness of Fatima with the multitude of other events involving Mary.
The simple answer to your question OP is as everyone has already pointed out; Cameras were not so common back then Portugal was a very poor country. if you actually had a camera, photos were difficult to take and the results were varied especially in conditions like there were on that day. So to take a picture of someone else taking a picture of the miracle would have been deemed a frivolous waste of a photograph.
The real proof of the miracle lays in the en masse tstimonies and subsequent fulfiment of other predictions, such às the warning that preceded the great outbreak of fighting in ww2.
I think the biggest validation of Mary's visions is not by looking at them as isolated events but by viewing them as a progressive set. The sheer numbers of people that have seen and believed in quite often large crowds is what starts to make he apparition seem more plausible. I think the question we should all be asking ourselves is not is she real, but who is she and what does she want