Welcome to the third installment of Cemetery Art! Right in time for the 1st day of Halloween, I took some time to go to Oakwoods Cemetery in Troy, NY. (Yes, Halloween is the entire month of October, and I will die on this hill!)
Oakwood Cemetery is really a stunning place. There are rolling hills and great architecture to explore. Oakwood is also home to some notable figures, including Uncle Sam himself! It would take all day to really explore it.
Instead of my usual trip where I seek out the monuments, I took another approach: a spooky photo shoot! The wonderful Kira served as my model. She really did a fantastic job helping bring my vision to life. Being on the other side of the camera takes some guts. I definitely have a hard time with this.
Doing an actual photo shoot can be much more difficult than taking pictures of the stones. There are moments when the stones are the main subject and the model is there to complement them. You also need to be respectful of where you are. Capturing your vision without any desecration is key. Saying thank you to the people for the use of their stones can help avoid any attachments. (You either know or you don’t.)
These monuments were put there for the living. They serve as reminders of those who came before us. The monuments give us a brief glimpse into parts of people’s lives. We should use this in our own art when we can. They are already immortalized in stone. I like to immortalize them with my lens. Later in the month, I’ll visit again and take pictures of the graves for Cemetery Art, Part 2.
Happy Halloween!
Photography by Joshua Scarselli.
