Well, it's Saturday morning and I was awake at 5:00 a.m. this morning with a migraine. I popped some Imitrex, made some coffee and started to work on some of the images that I captured 2 weeks ago from my grandfather's funeral. I captured some of the most amazing shots! So much so that I'm going to try and get them shown in a gallery. They are very moving images, they seem to move your emotions to all ends of the spectrum...in my opinion anyway.
I was very fortunate to have been able to capture a part of the funeral that most people do not get to or even wish to see...the burial. The day of my grandfather's funeral was like he had control over the events of the day and once again, he was looking out for me. I say this because earlier in the day while the cemetery employees were attempting dig out the plot where my grandfather's coffin would be tucked into, they hit a HUGE bolder in the ground which left them with no choice but to move the tent for the graveside service a few plots down. By the time the family arrived to say their final goodbye's to papaw, the plot was successfully opened up...for all of us too see. I don't know about you but I had never seen an actual "dug up" grave. To make a very long story short, I witnessed the "gravediggers," funeral directors, and my wife, carry my grandfather from the tent to the big hole in the ground. I watched his casket slowly go lower and lower into the hard, cold ground that looked almost decorated by the fine mist of snow that had fallen onto the dirt and into his vault that lie in wait to embrace my grandfather's eternal place of rest. While all of this is happening I am observing and feeling "the moment" in my gut...snap, snap, snapping of my camera, putting myself in the general public's frame of mind and asking myself, "what kind of an image would make me gasp for air?" I continue to click as the top of the vault is lowered down to cover my grandfather. Here is where my papaw's body, the body of a W.W.II Veteran, will forever be at peace. He and my grandmother's bodies are placed side by side and I know that on that day, they were side by side in an attempt to give me an opportunity that most of the world hasn't seen, let alone captured forever.
If you own a gallery or have a recommendation of a particular gallery that may be interested in showing these pieces, please contact me.
Yours in photography,
Shari
These images "speak" far louder than I will ever speak.
I was very fortunate to have been able to capture a part of the funeral that most people do not get to or even wish to see...the burial. The day of my grandfather's funeral was like he had control over the events of the day and once again, he was looking out for me. I say this because earlier in the day while the cemetery employees were attempting dig out the plot where my grandfather's coffin would be tucked into, they hit a HUGE bolder in the ground which left them with no choice but to move the tent for the graveside service a few plots down. By the time the family arrived to say their final goodbye's to papaw, the plot was successfully opened up...for all of us too see. I don't know about you but I had never seen an actual "dug up" grave. To make a very long story short, I witnessed the "gravediggers," funeral directors, and my wife, carry my grandfather from the tent to the big hole in the ground. I watched his casket slowly go lower and lower into the hard, cold ground that looked almost decorated by the fine mist of snow that had fallen onto the dirt and into his vault that lie in wait to embrace my grandfather's eternal place of rest. While all of this is happening I am observing and feeling "the moment" in my gut...snap, snap, snapping of my camera, putting myself in the general public's frame of mind and asking myself, "what kind of an image would make me gasp for air?" I continue to click as the top of the vault is lowered down to cover my grandfather. Here is where my papaw's body, the body of a W.W.II Veteran, will forever be at peace. He and my grandmother's bodies are placed side by side and I know that on that day, they were side by side in an attempt to give me an opportunity that most of the world hasn't seen, let alone captured forever.
If you own a gallery or have a recommendation of a particular gallery that may be interested in showing these pieces, please contact me.
Yours in photography,
Shari
These images "speak" far louder than I will ever speak.
No comments:
Post a Comment