Caedes

  In Memorium  

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Uploaded: 04/10/18 9:13 AM GMT
In Memorium
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This shot was taken fifteen years ago when I stumbled on a small, overgrown cemetery outside Point Arena, California during a road trip up the coast. I was using my Sony F828 digicam back then and took this shot in Sepia mode. The graveyard was like an undiscovered country that I had all to myself for an afternoon. Some of the markers went back to the mid-1800's and were all too often over infants or young people. Many noted the deceased age written out as years, months, and days. It seemed to give the lives more importance, as though each day was marked and counted. Plots were oftened shared by people who had no apparent connection, their lives sometimes seperated by generations. Old cemeteries like this are a rare treasure, and I was moved and fascinated by the stories I found there. Sometimes it was just two sticks, bound into a cross, but everyone was obviously important to someone else, someone who didn't want them forgotten. This connection across the ages is a large part of what we are, the value we place in each other, and what is eventually lost, in time.

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::LynEve
04/10/18 11:09 AM GMT
Your final words are so true "is eventually lost, in time" I find old cemeteries fascinating and I think in all parts of the world the number of children that died in infancy and are remembered in a stone engraving is a reminder of the advances made in medicine. Loosing a child in infancy now, while no less of a tragedy fortunately happens less often in the present. Except for war torn areas I guess, where often there are no reminders except the tears of those left.
Your photo is poignant - poor little Charlie did not even reach 5 years old, and his mother Celia followed him just 7 years later. I wonder what happened to her husband Charles.
5∈ [?]
My thanks to all who leave comments for my work and to those of you who like one enough to make it a favourite. To touch just one person that way makes each image worthwhile. . . . . . . . . .. . . . "The question is not what you look at, but what you see" ~ Marcel Proust
::tigger3
04/10/18 2:16 PM GMT
Very moving, and the sepia treatment was the perfect option. We have some old ones around here too, and makes me wonder why they lost their life at such a young age. tigs=^..^=
5∈ [?]
Nature in all her glory is my uplift on life and so is my love of photography. sandi ♪ ♫
::Vickid
04/11/18 6:21 PM GMT
Your narration is very meaningful. Unique capture, and it is perfect with the sepia for this scene. Excellent work on this.
5∈ [?]
No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
::ryzst
04/12/18 7:08 AM GMT
Thank you, everyone, for the kind remarks. I've felt very conflicted about sharing these photographs, because they're about people who cannot give their consent. Ultimately though, cemeteries are for the living, to remind future generations of lives that were cherished and not to be forgotten. That someone cared enough to create these small, but heartfelt monuments is the most touching part for me, and I can only hope to be remembered with such grace.
0∈ [?]
There are more things in heaven and earth, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. W.S.

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