Hallowed Ground

I want to talk about cemeteries – graveyards – as they are my favourite place to visit; to photograph; to get inspired by. Last fall, I moved from a smallish town just north-east of Oslo, to a slightly bigger town just south-east of Oslo. On one of our many, many trips back an forth between locations with boxes upon boxes of stuff, we came upon this magical place.

I love cemeteries. In spite of not being religious, I enjoy walking around the monuments and tombstones, and get a feel for the history of the people. I especially love old cemeteries, half-hidden in tall grass, mostly forgotten spaces where you stumble over grave markers barely decipherable due to erosion and harsh weather. They are like little hidden snapshots of time.

Both the Husband and I tend to look somewhat menacing on a daily basis – all black everything, big stompy boots; t-shirts and hoodies with blackmetal bands on them (in my case, anyway); that sort of thing – but we also make a point of being respectful towards places such as cemeteries, churches and other places of worship.

Whenever I bring a camera with me through the cemetery gates, I am extra mindful of what I am capturing, and I try to avoid publishing names if at all possible. (This does not apply to famous or historical people, though.) I also walk around the graves – not all over them. It’s common curtesy.

How do you feel about cemeteries?