Graveyards & graves

[Buckster]

Another Mile Marker. My second. I've got something in me telling me to seek out and shoot as many of these roadside shrines as I can find, and put them all together in a themed presentation of some sort.

 

[LaFoto]

Another Mile Marker. My second. I've got something in me telling me to seek out and shoot as many of these roadside shrines as I can find, and put them all together in a themed presentation of some sort.

Aren't they sad things to behold, those "mile markers", as you call them? I could contribute to your collection, we've got plenty of those on the sides of our roads here in Germany, too ...

 

[Buckster]

Another Mile Marker. My second. I've got something in me telling me to seek out and shoot as many of these roadside shrines as I can find, and put them all together in a themed presentation of some sort.

Aren't they sad things to behold, those "mile markers", as you call them? I could contribute to your collection, we've got plenty of those on the sides of our roads here in Germany, too ...

Indeed. They are sad, and there's a lot of story here, at each one. Obviously, these are spots where something dramatic and tragic happened that resulted in the ending of a life, but that story just scratches the surface to the passing motorist.

So now I pull over, I get out, and look closer, and I can see that someone still comes here to upkeep the spot, to refresh it with decorations that celebrate and honor the life that ended here. But I still know nothing about the person, not even a name, nor any details about what exactly actually unfolded on this spot. They are silent on that score, nameless, storyless.

Today, it is quiet, peaceful, save the occasional car going by. Its occupants barely notice the drama, the love, the care, that this shrine represents. So I will document it, with the road in the frame to show it as the familiar thing we've all seen and passed so many times in our travels, and try to do so in a way that makes a few stop to think about it when they see my photos.

"Mile Markers" is just one of the naming ideas I have for the series. I haven't actually settled on a name yet. I'm trying to think up something clever, but dignified, not macabre or disrespectful.

 

[sm4him]

Another Mile Marker. My second. I've got something in me telling me to seek out and shoot as many of these roadside shrines as I can find, and put them all together in a themed presentation of some sort.

What a great idea, Buckster! I, too, am often drawn to those markers on the side of the road. I wonder who the person was--were they young? Old? What happened in that spot to bring about their (probably) untimely demise? And what about their loved ones? How are they coping with the sometimes recent, sometimes long ago, loss. They are untold stories, monuments to lives lived and lost while the world just went on without noticing.

I've never thought to actually take photos of them though, but I think perhaps I'll start doing that!

 

[sm4him]

I love old cemeteries; I just love to wander around and think about the people marked by all those tombstones. Who were they? Is there anyone left in the world that is connected to them? What were their lives like?
I am especially drawn to the old cemeteries where there is a mom and dad's grave, and then you start seeing the children's grave--a day old child, a six-month old, a 2 year old, sometimes several children lost so young, and you wonder how they ever got through it.

This is one I came across at a very small, almost unseen, graveyard at Cades Cove in the Smokies. It was mid-February, but already the daffodils were blooming, speaking of an early spring--early life. And then this grave of an infant child, which spoke of early death.

 

[Fred Berg]

I posted these images in the dark side gallery yesterday, but think this is the better place for them. They were taken in a cemetery in Friedberg, Bavaria, a few days ago:

Last Orders
Link gone

The Bergmair Family - Innkeepers


Next!
Link gone
I thought of the title Always Room for One More for this photo, but didn't want to suggest that the deceased was destined for a downward journey in the afterlife. In the end I thought Next! was a rather quirky title, introducing a little humour into what is otherwise quite a sombre scene.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

 

[Tuffythepug]

I think I might have been at the same cemetery as Bitter Jeweler.. ?? New Orleans ?

 

[LaFoto]

HB2_103 von Corinna-Fotos auf Flickr


HB1_043 von Corinna-Fotos auf Flickr


HB1_113 von Corinna-Fotos auf Flickr

 

[SoLucky]

#1.
#2.
#3.
#4.
#5.
#6.

A recent Trash the Dress Session. I have favorites from the series (hint...NOT #1 or #4) but overall, I think I like it. It was a tough session due to the temperatures and the fact that my model was very unsure of herself.

 

[Buckster]

Another Mile Marker (third).

 

[Farmclicker]

I am not a big fan of the "Mile Marker" crosses beside the road myself and wish they would outlaw the practice, but this is not disrespectful, just a different perspective on the issue.

I live in a very rural town and at the time belonged to the local fire department. One night we just got home from church and saw a car scream past the house doing at least 60 mph or more on a road that is 45 mph for a reason. About 10 minutes later I got a call that just up the road was a car accident on the big hill there.

I parked at the top with my red light on to warn other drivers, and it being dark started running into hurt kids. As it turns out they packed 8 kids into this car and went for a ride. The car was going so fast it left the road, then rolled over and spilled the kids out before slamming sideways into a tree and bursting into flame. It hit so hard that it took the 10 inch tree out of the ground roots and all. The kids...in varying degrees of injury, littered that hill from top to bottom.

When the fire truck came, I grabbed a fireline and started putting the fire out. I went all around it, and was about 5 feet from the drivers side when I blasted the car with it. What I saw will haunt me for life. The driver had never got out, but with so many kids dumped out along the road we did not know it, thinking they all had been spilled out, and being burned, I blasted all of her skin off with the fire hose leaving nothing but a nasty charred skeleton. It was gruesome when you don't expect it.

Some family member put a cross up for her, and while I understand that, I had nightmares for months about that fire and what I saw.

A few months later however when my own teenage sister was killed ironically enough in an accident just down the road from this spot, we chose not to put a mile marker up for her. She has a headstone in a cemetery for that and out of respect for the firefighters/police and emts that were there for her that night.

But I mean no disrespect for your work; you are eloquently capturing what is in real life. It is just that I want to forget what occurred at that spot and am sure other First Responders want to as well.

 

[Philmar]

Washington Cemetery - Brooklyn NY by Phil Marion, on Flickr


Mosque and cemetery - Sayun, Yemen by Phil Marion, on Flickr


Okunoin cemetery of Koyasan by Phil Marion, on Flickr


Death of a tree - Mount Pleasant Cemetery by Phil Marion, on Flickr


Cemetary at Buddhist Kiyomizudera shrine - Kyoto by Phil Marion, on Flickr


cemetary, Oudayas Surf Club house and Atlantic Ocean - Rabat, Morocco by Phil Marion, on Flickr


Recoleta Cemetary - Buenos Aires by Phil Marion, on Flickr


Chichicastenango cemetery - Guatemala by Phil Marion, on Flickr


urns for cremated ashes - Varanasi, India by Phil Marion, on Flickr


nice roadside marker by Phil Marion, on Flickr