Silent Cities

To round off the year here is one of my favourites from Highgate cemetery in London - DEAD!

I do love it when people have a sense of humour even in death. I liked it so much it’s on the cover of my new book. Speaking of which, Joe has kindly let me post details of it here. I wouldn't want anyone thinking I was mindlessly plugging it or spamming, so thanks for that.

Silent Cities Volume Six, continuing the journey through the cemeteries of London and Paris by memorial photographer Jeane Trend-Hill is now available. Containing 120 stunning colour images featuring angels, crosses and many unusual monuments.
Buy it here: http://www.lulu.com/content/lulustudio-photo-book/silent-cities-volume-six/7048220 or for further information see: www.homestead.com/askjeane

I would like to wish you all a very happy, healthy and safe 2010. See you on the other side!

Jeane XO

That Thing Thursday

As I was strolling through Evergreen Cemetery in Oakland, CA the other day I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. Off in the distance I could see the Met Life blimp. I thought it would make a good "Thing" for this week. I have no idea what it was doing in the area. Normally it cruises the nearby Oakland Coliseum and arena but to my knowledge there was nothing going on there that day. I have more posts to follow on this cemetery but it is pending research so I will not be able to post it just yet. I can tell you that once I get the response I'm looking for that the next post I have on this cemetery will be very interesting. In the meantime I took a closer pic of the blimp but it was so far in the distance that everything else came out a little blurry. It was way on the other side of the cemetery and then some. I've always thought it would be cool to take a ride on one of these airships. It used to be that I'd see the Goodyear blimp more often but I haven't seen that one in quite some time. It's always Met Life now...and I guess they can thank me for the free plug here...Met Life if you're out there reading this I accept Paypal...

Wordless Wednesday

Raspali Monument Pere Lachaise, Paris.

Raspali was a kind of freedom fighter. The monument depicts his wife covered in a shroud visiting him in prison. I have visited it many times and always feel dizzy when I touch it. I find it fascinating and it’s definitely one of my favorites from Pere Lachaise cemetery.

Tombstone Tuesday

From what I understand. This picture was taken roughly6 or 7 years ago at a Jewish cemetery in Colma California. I'm not sure exactly what the light streaks are in the picture. It just seems awfully spooky that they'd show up in a picture taken in a graveyard. The girl in the picture is my girlfriend and this is back when she just hung out in graveyards for the fun of it. She really wasn't doing any exploration. More likely it was just a nice quiet time. In any event this picture has fascinated me since the first time she showed me. The scanned image doesn't really do it justice but it's the only thing I can show to the masses. I can't logically explain what this could be. The strange thing to me is that it has depth. It seems to come from the back where she's sitting toward the front where the camera is. I guess we'll never know for sure what it was but it's definitely an interesting picture...

Peterborough, UK

A few shots from my Christmas trip to Peterborough Cathedral and churchyard.

Yay...

Breaking News!!! Santa is Dead...At least until next year anyway...Bring on the new year...

Tombstone Tales: Tomb of Mozart

Tomb of Mozart, Main Cemetery Vienna, Austria 

by S. Ruehlow, on Flickr

The clock ticks away the hour

of midnight and in a web

of white light a piano

is playing a little

night music:

"Allegro!"

But where is the pianist?

Look at the keys, they go up

and down as the Rondo dances

through the deserted street

with this Lord and his Lady

dressed only

in her jewellery.

And the clock ticks away

the hour of midnight

when they jump

in the canal

as they always did

and always do

and forever

will.

More TombStone Tales!

Holiday Circle of Lights - Mountain View Cemetery

I first heard of the circle of lights from Cheryl over at Heritage Happens.
I thought to myself Christmas at the cemetery? Awesome. It turns out that much like everything I get all excited about I fail to figure out that it just says "circle of lights". I've been to Mountain View a million times and just as you enter the cemetery gates you have the main office, the Gothic Chapel, and this traffic circle that goes around a small man made pond in the middle. Hence "circle". It's not very big. So I get there and I'm a little disappointed because I walk straight past the lights and find out that the cemetery has been closed off by barricades so all I'm going to see tonight is this circle of lights. Don't get me wrong they did a great job with the lights on the main office and around the pond as you can see above. They even did a great job with the Gothic Chapel you see below. I've always wondered what a Gothic Chapel actually is. Looks like I'll have to ask the cemetery personnel but it is my understanding that it serves as a regular chapel would serve, hosting several funeral services as well as a few weddings. Now I've been married before but had no idea this existed when I got married. I think it would take a special lady to marry me in a cemetery. I'm going on record right now and saying I'm not getting married again unless these conditions are met. I get married in a cemetery, there is a little person dressed like Jimi Hendrix playing the wedding march on an electric guitar and the wedding cake will need to be made off bacon. If all these conditions are met we can proceed with nuptials. Ok back to business...sometimes those thoughts up there stay in and sometimes they squeak through the cracks. Looks like that one squeaked through. So after we got done looking at the lights we noticed security patrolling the cemetery grounds behind the barricades. So we took a stroll over to the chapel and pretended to be intrigued with the lights on it. We sneak around the back and we're in the Jewish section...allright!! So my first night shots of Mountain View. Finally something to be excited about. Unfortunately my camera takes really crappy night photos. Please take the time to buy me the camera I want. Anyway we get home and start noticing pictures with bright and lighter colored orbs in them from the one section we could visit without security getting us. My girlfriend is all excited saying it's ghost energy etc. I say it's dust and the argument begins. She says "How could you not believe in ghosts?" and I say "Because I've never seen concrete evidence that there are ghosts." Now I'm not saying they don't exist. I'm just saying I can't really say that I have seen a ghost. I have seen things I thought were there maybe out of the corner of my eye but cannot say for sure if I saw a ghost or if something was a figment of my imagination. I'm more of a feel the energy sort of guy. But you can definitely see something in the picture above. I always look for a logical explanation for something and to her it seems everything is a ghost. But in these pictures I cannot dispute that I see orbs. Now what is an orb? Is it just dust reflecting light back at the camera? Or is it a piece of energy from the other side? I guess everyone has their own opinions on it. Overall this was a fun trip and I would like to thank my kids for not being too much of a pain in the butt as Dad cruised the graveyard at night. Happy Holidays everyone...

Merry Christmas

The authors at Cemetery Explorers would like to wish all the readers a very Merry Christmas. I would also like to wish my fellow authors a Merry Christmas as well. This site wouldn't be half as great as it is without you. I thank anyone for whatever they can stop by and post during their busy schedules and you guys do a great job of keeping this site up and running.

I would like to also tell everyone, readers and authors alike, that we have now combined the blog with the Facebook Page of the same name. After a short discussion with the administrator, I have been made administrator of the Facebook Page as well so I will be promoting the Cemetery Explorers Blog on Facebook as well to hopefully gain more authors and more readers.

As always if anyone out there has a story they'd like published or would like to become an author please contact me by leaving a comment on a post or by email and we can talk. I'm not picky about who becomes an author. It's all about taking pictures and talking about what you see or what you feel etc...pretty easy if you ask me.

Happy Holidays everyone...

Gladys and her piano, City of London cemetery

Gladys Spencer a Music Hall star who died Aged 34 1931. She is buried in the City of London cemetery and her memorial is a likeness of her atop a grand piano. Gladys was a popular trainer of child dancers and performers at the Classical Academy of Music and dance in nearby Manor Park.

Friends of the Catholic Cemetery

Friends of the Catholic Cemetery

The freshly manicured, rolling grounds of Mobile's historic Catholic Cemetery today contrast dramatically with the scene a decade ago, when the oldest section of graves was overgrown with weeds and grass as tall as thriving corn.

Catholic Cemetery, formerly known as Stone Street Cemetery, was established in 1848 by Bishop Michael Portier (although some graves date as far as 1813). Additional acreage was added in 1866, 1903, 1910, 19

21, and 1948, including a mausoleum. The 150 acre cemetery with ove

r 18,000 graves, which includes the graves of Admiral Raphael Semmes and Father Abram Joseph Ryan, was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 199

1, and had a historic marker dedication only recently, on December 19th, 2009.

Starting in 1848, the cemetery was purchased in three sections in what was then rural Toulminville. As Mobile expanded westward, Catholic Cemetery became isolated from these growth areas. Declining revenues and other factors restricted its upkeep. Facing further decline, Friends of Catholic Cemetery formed in 2006 to revitalize this active cemetery to honor past dead and our newly deceased. Burial lots are available in the cemetery's newer section.

Friends of the Catholic Cemetery is an Association of the Faithful that is restoring and maintaining Mobile Catholic Cemetery. FOCC operates not-for-profit under the Archdiocese of Mobile. Our IRS 501 (c)(3) status makes all dues or donatues to us tax deductible.

FOCC has made solid progress and needs your continued support. With the Archdiocese's cooperation, we are preserving this sacred group to honor our beloved dead including many priests, nuns and brothers who devoted their lives to serve us at the alter, in the schools, hospitals, and homes for the aged and poor.

In 2008, a new front gate was installed and the carriage gates were restored. Seven-foot wide perimeter fence sections with a dedication plaque are now available. For more information on supporting the fence project, please contact Michelle Mayberry at m_mayberry@bellsouth.net.

Your are invited to join us to concretely show that our Catholic respect for life literally extends from the womb to the grave. Annual dues are just $25.00 per family. Membership is not limited to Catholics. We invite all people and groups including those interested from a civic or historic perspective.

Written by Amy Walker

Please visit/join us on Facebook!

www.Facebook/FriendsofCatholicCemetery.com

Cemetery Fox

I am a regular visitor to the City of London cemetery and often see this same fox, she actually let me feed her earlier this year (a baked potato, lol.) On my last visit I also spotted two fox cubs.

Monday Madness

I usually don't post on Monday but I've been going a little mad as of late. With the Christmas holiday approaching it's getting crazier and crazier around here. My job always tries to kill us right before the end of the year. I think mainly so the sales guys can get their end of the year bonus while everyone else has to be happy just collecting their regular paychecks like the drones we are. It's at this time of the year when I usually realize my title at work is only given so that I can deal with all the crap other people don't want to deal with. And usually when I'm down and in a funk I turn to Photoshop where I can lose myself in a false reality and create something that takes me somewhere else. Even though I'm really just sitting here in my chair on my laptop.

I did this picture the other day. The style is called Tilt Shift Photography. I guess they actually make lenses that do this. Since I neither have the correct camera nor the correct lens, I decided that I'd see if I could fake it in photoshop. Please click the picture to see the larger image. What it's supposed to do it make the scene appear miniature. What you see here is a shot of Millionaire's Row at Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, CA.

The Bird, Monterparnasse Cemetery, Paris

Another one from Paris this time Montparnasse cemetery - the bird. A huge mirrored bird (you can see how big it is with me beside it!) I have to say though I tend to favour the older monuments this is one of my favourites. I love the way it glints in the sunlight.

Pere Lachaise, Paris.

These sad yet intriguing figures are from one of the Auschwitz memorials in Pere Lachaise cemetery Paris.

Freaky Friday

Yes these are just normal benches to everyone else. But to me they seem to give off this strange vibe. Many people have sat on these benches to mourn the loss of a loved one. Unlike a regular grave where most people come to one individually. Many different people have sat here crying, reminiscing, etc. I don't know if it's just something in the back of my mind as I'm taking pictures but I'm always half expecting that I'll get home and see the picture I thought was an empty bench with someone sitting there. Ghosts to me are much like bugs. If I don't see them they probably won't bother me.

Aside from that, I'd just like to say that I love this picture....

Pere Lachaise, Paris.

One of the largest monuments in Pere Lachaise, Paris.

Tombstone Tales: Georges Rodenbach, author of Bruges-la-Morte, at Père Lachaise

The poem was inspired by the short poetic novel Bruges-la Morte, by Georges Rodenbach. Listen while you read to this Very Slow and Spooky French Cancan...

Grave of George Rodenbach, Père-Lachaise (photo by Gus Hertzog)

Only the dead are dancing

through the living

rooms


when evening is falling

and grey people are put to rest

in peace


in houses
 

and shallow shadows
 

of past centuries
 

wondering stoned
 

as a statue.









 

Listen well

and hear a voice

whispering behind a hatch

about a past

tense not fully

completed

Wordless Wednesday

Photo by Void of Silence...it's ok she lives with me ;)

Christmas Angel

Getting into the spirit of Christmas I thought I would post a Christmas angel. I took this shot in Hampstead cemetery in London recently.

Tombstone Tuesday - Unknown Mausoleum

This picture was taken at St. John's Cemetery in San Mateo California. Upon entering the cemetery it was the first thing that caught my eye. How could you miss it? It looked like something you'd see if you were to visit ancient Rome. The strange thing is there were no markings on it at all. Nothing saying who was buried inside and the door seemed to be made of iron. Nobody on the internet can tell me who is buried here. I guess I could call the cemetery and see if they'll tell me but what would be the fun in that?

Above you see the original picture as it came out of my camera. Here you see a color version I edited using Photoshop. You can see I've changed a few things. I love this picture and will probaby order it on canvas when i get a chance.







This is another edited version of the same picture done in an antique style. Both pictures came out great and I'm happy with the results. I just wish I knew who was buried here. I'm not sure why they chose to not mark it with something. The graves in front of it are not part of this beautiful monument. Although this wasn't a terribly huge cemetery it just goes to show you that every cemetery has a hidden gem. The cemetery was also in an odd place. Nestled in between a residential neighborhood surrounded by houses. If it weren't for GPS I would have probably never known it was there. It was beautiful for a smaller cemetery and definitely worth a visit...