Opening Reception Friday, Feb. 15, 6 – 8 pm.
http://saintasaphs.org/Current_Exhibit.html

Ed Snyder is having a show of his photography at St. Asaph Gallery, Feb. 17 – Mar. 16 2008. Twenty images spanning his 10-year study of cemetery statuary will be on display. The exhibit merges art and photography with society’s desire to come to terms with death and dying. Oh, and there will be wine and snacks to lighten things up a bit.

St. Asaph church, attached to the gallery, is sort of a miniature gothic cathedral, complete with gargoyles and Tiffany stained glass windows! It’s located one block off City Avenue, near Belmont Avenue in Philadelphia. Please see their website for directions: http://saintasaphs.org/Contacts.html

Artist Statement

“Cemetery and Penitentiary Photography” was the working title of this show. The actual title of the show became “Confinement in Solitude.” In this article I’m going to explain how I came up with that title. Here’s my Artist’s Statement for the show:

“Confinement in Solitude”

These words, used to describe Eastern State Penitentiary’s philosophy toward criminals, eerily parallel that of a cemetery. ESP’s original idea that freedom (from criminal behavior) could be achieved through confinement was less than successful. Isn’t everything about the tension between freedom and confinement? Cemetery angels vividly portray this–creatures of flight, frozen in stone.

I’d long been a fan of urban decay-beauty in detritus. Perhaps one reason I enjoy photographing old cemeteries and Eastern State Penitentiary is this oppressive attraction they both possess. But how to connect the two? Coming up with an Artist’s Statement is considerably more difficult than coming up with a title for an individual piece of artwork. I would rather eat bees than do either. Such contemplative writing requires more soul-searching, I believe, than the actual creation of the art itself. So much of the creative process is feeling, rather than overt planning. Like the artist N.C. Wyeth said, in order to create a successful piece of artwork, you must have an emotional connection with the subject. Agreed, but how do you put that into words?

I don’t particularly care for writing about my work because I feel I expose more of myself with words and I risk assigning specific meaning to my work. I’d rather leave it to individuals to find their own meaning in the art. For instance, if I took a picture of a pork chop, hung it in a gallery, and labeled it “Pork Chop,” most people wouldn’t look twice it at. They’d think, “Yep, that’s a pork chop alright.” On the other hand, if the same photograph were untitled, people might think that metaphorically, I’m commenting on the carnivorous nature of man, or space and the passage of time. Subconsciously, I might be. You get the idea.

So even though labels are for jelly jars, I am expected to come up with titles and Artist Statements. So how to make them relevant without giving away the farm? In analyzing the connection between angels and prisons, I gave up early on obvious titles, e.g. “Angels and Devils” (while there were angels in my photographs, the devils were only implied); “God’s Servants and Satan’s Minions” (a bit harsh on the shoplifters and other petty criminals who occupied Eastern State); or “Angels and Penitents.” That last one had promise.

Crime and Punishment in the Victorian Age

When the prison opened in 1829, its founders believed that solitude would “make the criminal regretful and penitent” (hence the new word Penitentiary added to our language). Legislation specifying “separate or solitary confinement at labor” was passed. This correctional theory, as practiced in Philadelphia, became known as the Pennsylvania System, and it became world-famous.

In 1913, The Pennsylvania System of confinement with solitude was abandoned at Eastern State. The system had actually broken down decades earlier, prompted by Charles Dickens’ criticism of the philosophy. He visited the United States in 1842 to see Niagara Falls and Eastern State Penitentiary–two wonders of the Victorian world. He later wrote, “The System is rigid, strict and hopeless solitary confinement, and I believe it, in its effects, to be cruel and wrong…”

So Eastern State’s original concept of freedom (from criminal behavior) through confinement, failed. Stone walls, like stone wings, fail to ascend the arc to freedom.

Death and Mourning in the Victorian Age

Founded in the Victorian 1830s, both Eastern State Penitentiary and the great garden cemeteries like Laurel Hill (Philadelphia) speak volumes about American societal beliefs and norms at the time. Both are examples of our attempt to come to terms with the undesirable realities of death and crime–we confine them both in solitude. We reward them with burial and imprisonment, respectively –”interment” vs. “internment.” Both Eastern State and Laurel Hill were architectural wonders created in a rural setting–Philadelphia had not yet grown to reach them. Penitence and mourning practices both reached stellar proportions in that era (when a family member died, the official mourning period usually lasted a year, during which time ritualistic wearing of black clothing was observed), as did the epic flourish of angels and other ornate cemetery statuary.

Funny how the words interment and internment get confused. Interment is burial; internment is simply imprisonment. If you had asked the inmates at Eastern State to compare their confinement in solitude with that of those interred at Laurel Hill, they may not have thought the difference appreciable. They may have felt like the stone angels–or as T.E. Lawrence would say, “the living knew themselves just sentient puppets on God’s stage.” To me, cemetery angels vividly portray the tension between freedom and confinement that inmates at Eastern State must have felt. This tension between freedom and confinement–isn’t that what life is all about?

Stoneangels: You said death was more common in the 1800s?

Ross Mitchell: The life span was much shorter back then. And before there were antibiotics, people lost children all the time. We have one lot here where [a family] lost eight children in ten years, all under the age of ten.

Stoneangel: They weren’t all stillborn babies?

Ross Mitchell: No, colds would come around, infections would happen and there were no antibiotics. So people died [earlier]. People were laid out in the parlor. In fact I believe that’s one of the reasons they started calling it the “living” room instead of the parlor because the parlor waxs associated with where you would lay out the body when you had a death in the family. So “living” room…

Stoneangels: As opposed to the funeral “parlor.” I brought my daughter here when she was about fifteen-we used to come here together to take photographs. She was surprised to see so many tombstones of children who had died before they were 6 months old. She couldn’t understand why so many children had died that young. It was a great history lesson for her. Hanging around here, I think in some way helped me prepare myself for my father’s death. I have a small family and I was not used to grief and death. But I knew it was inevitable. So I appreciate Laurel Hill from that respect.

Ross Mitchell: One of the programs we’re developing here is in conjunction with St. Joseph’s University [Philadelphia], an Urban Mourning Rituals Program-that’s the working title now. It’s an outreach program into the local community. Unfortunately, with all the shootings that we’re having in Philadelphia–a lot of youth-on-youth murder–everybody in the city knows somebody who’s been shot. So we’re working on developing a program that’s based on the spontaneous memorials–spontaneous roadside memorials that happen, and the Rest In Peace memorials at murder sites, the spray-painted memorial on the back windows of cars, Rest In Peace spray-painted memorial t-shirts, sort of graffitied, modern urban rituals. These are a natural outgrowth of loss and of people trying to deal with loss.

So with Professor Berndt, from St. Joseph’s University, we’re developing a program to go out into the community to help children understand what these mourning rituals are, what they’re for and to help children deal with their loss. We’ll come to Laurel Hill as part of the program–we have 170 years of mourning rituals here and can help kids understand and work through their unfortunate losses.

Next: Behind the Scenes: Historical Archives at Laurel Hill

She presents the stages we may go through upon learning of a loss:

1. DENIAL – This cannot be happening! My father was FINE last week!
2. ANGER – Bastards! Doctors! I’ll sue them! What did he do to deserve this? He worked like a dog all his life, and for …this?!
3. BARGAINING – If I could just see him one last time…
4. DEPRESSION – He’s gone….what does anything matter now?
5. ACCEPTANCE – It’s been a year now and … life goes on.

Grief is a reaction to significant loss. There is no right or wrong way to do it. Identifying the stages and giving them names is a tried and true method of attaining a sense of control in a particular situation. While this is important, I would submit to you that we rearrange the steps a bit and place ACCEPTANCE at the top. Maybe for some of us this would minimize or even eliminate the other feelings. This could help us handle death in a more rational manner.

Why do you take pictures of cemetery statuary?

As I’ve been doing cemetery photography for about 8 years, I recently began to contemplate this question. People have asked my why I do it, and I’ve never been able to answer the question in a nice tidy manner. Not being a terribly introspective person, I simply thought it was because I liked the images I created-some beautiful, some grim, some even macabre. The fact that others find meaning in my work is an unexpected gift.

However, the question remains– why do I do it? The creative process of photography has always helped me deal with the world, with personal issues, and even to judge myself. In retrospect, psychiatry would’ve been cheaper. However, I believe that spending time in cemeteries, creating art, meeting people in the business, etc. has helped me ACCEPT the idea of death as a less abstract concept.

You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go

In his song of the same name, Bob Dylan expresses our basic feeling of loss, after all Kubler-Ross’ gingerbread is trimmed off. We’ll miss the person, and the loss may even create a massive hardship, but after a time the past always has a way of being, well, past. Preparing yourself before the actual event takes place helps you deal with the event more effectively. This is true no matter what the event is-an exam in school, a public speaking engagement, settlement on a house, and yes, even death.

In the Victorian era, people were not only well prepared for death, but they continued to officially mourn for a year! Women would were all black. Men might wear a ring with an enclosed lock of the deceased’s hair. Even today, Hebrews go to synagogue every Friday for a year when a loved one dies. Humans take comfort in ritual, and are made anxious by change. The book, Mourning Art & Jewelry, fully documents this aspect of our psyches.

Garden Cemeteries – d’raison d’etre
For the uninitiated, garden cemeteries are essentially outdoor sculpture gardens, conceived in Europe in the Victorian era to try and dispel some of the fear and bleakness associated with death and dying. People nowadays typically don’t venture into a cemetery unless they have to. For me, I believe that spending time in cemeteries has helped me to prepare myself for the loss of loved ones. So, will any cemetery do? And what do I do while I’m there?

What is There to Do in a Cemetery?
To begin with, you don’t have to be religious, although there certainly are Hebrew, Asian, Catholic, and Nondenominational cemeteries to visit. Usually, you don’t have to explain to anyone why you’re there. They don’t charge admission (unless you decide to become a permanent resident).You may want to spend some time poking around by yourself, or go with a group. Larger (and especially historical) cemeteries often have tours. Examples are Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia and Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge (near Boston), Massachusetts.

Visit their websites, perhaps something will spark your interest. Go for an hour every few months. Visit different cemeteries. Talk with the people in the front office if you feel brave enough. Ask the gardeners what their favorite monuments are. See if there are any famous people buried there. Whatever you decide to do in the cemetery, the key is to do it now. With experience, you’ll begin to accept your own and others’ mortality. At that point you will be more capable of accepting the mystery and inevitability of death.