Cemetary project

[John Moore]

I have been kicking around the idea of doing a cemetary project. Taking photos of crypts, headstones, landscape etc. I was wondering if there are any restrictions to doing this? and if not does anyone have any tips that may help me so the photos don't seem random and can all be pulled together. I hope that makes sense.

 

[Ken Tanaka]

Hello John;
Cemeteries are private property. You will need permission from the owners for such a project. It may be unlikely you'll get any such permission unless you can demonstrate that you're earnest and accomplished. (i.e. A professional on a news assignment, etc.) These properties are understandably extremely protective of privacy.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Hello John;
Cemeteries are private property. You will need permission from the owners for such a project. It may be unlikely you'll get any such permission unless you can demonstrate that you're earnest and accomplished. (i.e. A professional on a news assignment, etc.) These properties are understandably extremely protective of privacy.

Ken,


What about when the structures are visible from the road. Obviously if a crypt can be seen by folk walking by, then it's not private. However, if one would reach over with a 600 mm lens where privacy might be expected, then there may be different opinions.

John,

I would consider putting together a portfolio of photographs of related subjects that you can photograph. There are many open burial places and memorials including the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, photographs inside chapels where there may be someone buried, where photographs are permitte. Do this first, you can establish your interest and the aesthetic taste and your ability to deliver work in a professional and respectful manner. Then you might approach different cemetery owners. Get them interested in documenting their own architecture and character. That way they'll see benefit and value in your work too.

Whenever you approach decision makers with a unified body of work related to their own interests, they might throw their support behind you. Otherwise, you may not have sufficient access for the depth of study your project might require.

I like this project. What lead you to this choice? Why of all places, cemeteries and crypts? Have you already made some preliminary studies or sketches of the kind of approach you might have?

Asher

 

[James Newman]

Check with the management first. I have one particular cemetery that I go into for photographs all the time. It is the beautiful Glenwood Cemetery in Houston, TX. They do allow photography but their website says the following:

" Photography for private (not commercial) use is permitted so long as it does not interfere with the quiet enjoyment of the cemetery by other visitors. Photography in available light is preferred, although flash cameras may be used. External light sources not integral to the camera may not be used. Photography of burials is permitted only with the express permission of the person authorizing the burial, and such permission should be made known to the Glenwood office in advance of the burial. Photography for commercial use is prohibited, except with the written permission of the Vice President and General Manager. Requests should be submitted to the Glenwood office."

James Newman

 

[John Moore]

Ken,

I like this project. What lead you to this choice? Why of all places, cemeteries and crypts? Have you already made some preliminary studies or sketches of the kind of approach you might have?

Asher

I came up with this project while taking a drive with the family last year. We rode past a cemetary and i saw this tombstone that was half covered with vines sitting at the base of a tree on a small hill. It was beautiful and I felt like some tombstones have not been visited for many years and are all but forgotten. I wanted to find a way to have them remembered. I don't know, it just struck me. It is one of those ideas that festers in the back of your mind and you just feel it is the right thing for you to do. I have not done any sketches or studies yet. It is still being planned out in my mind. There are some vacant cemetaries in the area that I can visit and get good shots, but the above shot would be my centerpiece.

 

[Ken Tanaka]

John;
I wholeheartedly encourage camera owners to pursue projects, even small projects.

So please take the following suggestion as a purely constructive idea from just one average person; Find a deeper and more meaningful purpose to this project. Graveyard photos are to photography what zombie movies are to video. Snapping images of anonymous strangers' gravestones isn't "remembering" these people.

Keep letting this idea "fester". Look for some more meaningful cultural or historic purpose to photograph tombstones and monuments. By the time this idea swells into a medium-sized boil you may find yourself planning a cross-country tour of cemeteries. When it swells to Titleist size you'll be traveling overseas.

 

[Mike Shimwell]

John;
I wholeheartedly encourage camera owners to pursue projects, even small projects.

So please take the following suggestion as a purely constructive idea from just one average person; Find a deeper and more meaningful purpose to this project. Graveyard photos are to photography what zombie movies are to video. Snapping images of anonymous strangers' gravestones isn't "remembering" these people.

Keep letting this idea "fester". Look for some more meaningful cultural or historic purpose to photograph tombstones and monuments. By the time this idea swells into a medium-sized boil you may find yourself planning a cross-country tour of cemeteries. When it swells to Titleist size you'll be traveling overseas.

Just a thought following on from Ken's comment. I think that in order to continue the pursuit of photography it must become something with a real and deep purpose that goes beyond the mere snapping or making of pretty pictures. Ken's comment about letting the idea fester allows the germ to grow into a full blown idea. As you play at the edges the unimportant parts are blown away, like chaff, leaving the core of what your work is about. Then if that purpose is important enough to you, even if you can't fully articulate it, you will be driven to work on the project. If you are anything like me you may go through lots of 'project ideas' and tens of thousands of frames that you never even look at again as you refine what is important to you and what makes your work your own (certainly not spoken as someone who has 'got there'!)

Enjoy

Mike

 

[John Moore]

John;
I wholeheartedly encourage camera owners to pursue projects, even small projects.

So please take the following suggestion as a purely constructive idea from just one average person; Find a deeper and more meaningful purpose to this project. Graveyard photos are to photography what zombie movies are to video. Snapping images of anonymous strangers' gravestones isn't "remembering" these people.

Keep letting this idea "fester". Look for some more meaningful cultural or historic purpose to photograph tombstones and monuments. By the time this idea swells into a medium-sized boil you may find yourself planning a cross-country tour of cemeteries. When it swells to Titleist size you'll be traveling overseas.

Your suggestion makes a lot of sense. I will continue to let the idea roll around in my head until it develops more meaning. You have actually answered one of my top questions which is: How do photographers come up with their projects? I guess it makes sense now why i haven't started shooting some of the projects ideas I had, and that is because they weren't ready. It's not like writing where you just free write until the idea develops. you don't shoot pictures and then try to make them fit an idea. You let the idea develop so when you go out to shoot, you know what angles, light, and theme your are looking for. Thanks.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Your suggestion makes a lot of sense. I will continue to let the idea roll around in my head until it develops more meaning. You have actually answered one of my top questions which is: How do photographers come up with their projects? I guess it makes sense now why i haven't started shooting some of the projects ideas I had, and that is because they weren't ready. It's not like writing where you just free write until the idea develops. you don't shoot pictures and then try to make them fit an idea. You let the idea develop so when you go out to shoot, you know what angles, light, and theme your are looking for. Thanks.

John,

This has to be a combination of approaches. Just like in writing, you need to flush out ideas.

Here's what I'd do. Write down what interests you. Give them a priority. Go out and snap pictures. now go to your local museums and photography galleries and exhibits and see what others have done. You don't need to be locked in. However, you must be shooting at least 2-3 times per week.

The idea is to look at your pictures. They will all be fed by the lists and study you do. Let it work deep in your brain. Take your best pictures and print several. That's all. Stick them on a wall for a few days and consider how you might improve that shot. what you like. Take it down and draw on it. Just retake those one or two pictures.

It's not important that this becomes you final quest that will occupy your time day in day out. for now, you just need to get an idea, shoot it, pick the best, enjoy it and see how it can be improved.

Each time you complete two such pictures go to get a boost from visiting a gallery.

If you are not involved in photography in such a way, you cannot readily come up with anything to use all your creative energy!

Here's my motto, you must get started:

"Don't just think! Try!"

We can get easily paralyzed by just obsessing about what you will settle on and why. If you get to work, the ideas will come if there is a creative spirit inside you needing release.

Asher

 

[Mike Shimwell]

John,

This has to be a combination of approaches. Just like in writing, you need to flush out ideas.

Here's what I'd do. Write down what interests you. Give them a priority. Go out and snap pictures. now go to your local museums and photography galleries and exhibits and see what others have done. You don't need to be locked in. However, you must be shooting at least 2-3 times per week.

The idea is to look at your pictures. They will all be fed by the lists and study you do. Let it work deep in your brain. Take your best pictures and print several. That's all. Stick them on a wall for a few days and consider how you might improve that shot. what you like. Take it down and draw on it. Just retake those one or two pictures.

It's not important that this becomes you final quest that will occupy your time day in day out. for now, you just need to get an idea, shoot it, pick the best, enjoy it and see how it can be improved.

Each time you complete two such pictures go to get a boost from visiting a gallery.

If you are not involved in photography in such a way, you cannot readily come up with anything to use all your creative energy!

Here's my motto, you must get started:

"Don't just think! Try!"

We can get easily paralyzed by just obsessing about what you will settle on and why. If you get to work, the ideas will come if there is a creative spirit inside you needing release.

Asher

Absolutely agree, photographers do just shoot. Apart from anything else it's fun and you learn a lot by looking at what you've done. This all feeds the creative drive in the long run.

Mike

 

[Mike Shimwell]

Hi John

Another thought, one of the big advantages of digital can be a shortening of the time between shooting and viewing. Even a point and shoot can be realy useful for this - I like and use my Ricoh GX100 regularly and it's far from being just a toy.

The much freer approach is also one of the reasons that I haven't traded in my 35mm film equipment for medium format. I can't afford both (scanner is primarily responsbile) at the present, and I really value the freedom of 35mm.

Mike