I've long held a love for cemeteries. It's not like I'm depressing and morbid. In fact, I'm a ridiculously deliriously perky person, but cemeteries are something different from the rest of our world; quiet sanctuaries. They're urban parks that don't involve mountain bikes and dog walkers. They're silent open-air art exhibits that make you stop and think. You contemplate every headstone you see and what that person was like, who visited them and left those flowers after so many years later,and what do you want on your own headstone?
Cemeteries are picturesque and sometimes creepy, solemn and sometimes cheerful. And really good photographers know how to capture all those moods. In fact, I came across a local photographer here in Phoenix, Julie Foskett. She does unique things (like the beautiful photos above). A young engaged couple wanted their photos to express their unusual Tim Burton-esque wedding, so they had Julie photograph them in a pastoral Catholic Cemetery called St. Francis (one of my favorite places to take pictures).
I'm pleased to give her link so you can see more of the couple's beautiful and moody pictures.
Next time you're thinking of cemeteries as just places to store loved ones once they pass or creep around to try and obtain EVPs at midnight, remember that they're also gothic backdrops for fantastic portraits and meaningful commentary.
They might just make your next Christmas cards one in a million!
oh, now i LIKE the christmas card idea!! brilliant, autumnforest!!
ReplyDeleteNice pictures. I love pictures of old cemeteries. They are beautifully haunting, if that makes sense, lol.
ReplyDeleteDo you still live in the Fairfax area?
ReplyDeleteI am in Vienna near Tyson's. My daughter and I do investigations together. Is your old house still standing? Great idea about the cemetery photos.
Hey Fancyfox;
ReplyDeleteTyson's Corner--such great memories!!! My house was near Braddock and 123 (beside George Mason) off Roberts Rd. Yeah, it's still standing. Unfortunately, a contractor bought it and wanted to tear the entire property up and build condos, but the historical society and neighbors fought and the house and front formal boxwood gardens still stand, but the 2 slave cottages and barn were torn down for condos. It's hard to miss because as you go up a hill on the roadway you look down at a line of condos and an antebellum mansion. Very weird. The owners are nice folks, they've been on "If Walls Could Talk" (Medial Mysteries episode) and the woman owns an antique shop in the old Fairfax area near the courthouse. It was sad because years ago one of the previous owners took the Waterford Crystal chandeliers and all the relics we had dug up -- huge display case filled. They have a few relics that were somehow found along the way, but not the extensive collection we had that went back to before settlers' time. Have you ever heard of Glenn Dale Hospital in Maryland? That's one I'd like to do next time I'm in the area. You might want to check it out. On my ghost hunting studies I've been doing, it had potential to be seriously haunted. Although that entire area around Fairfax is so rich in geology and history that it's prime for hunts. Keep in touch!