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

Cemetery and Penitentiary Photography
by Ed Snyder
July 3 – 31, 2006
Mugshots CoffeeHouse
21st & Fairmount Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19130
(267) 514-7145

See website for hours:
www.mugshotscoffeehouse.com

Mugshots CoffeeHouse in the Fairmount section of Philadelphia will be hosting a show of Ed’s work.

As Mugshots is right across the street from the notorious Eastern State Penitentiary, Ed will beexhibiting images from his ESP portfolio, in addition to his angel and cemetery photography. And you thought the cemetery photography was creepy…

All work will be for sale.

Photographic Society of Philadelphia

I’ve been making photographic images in cemeteries since 1999, and it has become my primary artistic interest. I’ve also worked mainly in black and white, though I’ve begun to branch out into color and digital, partly due to my involvement as a member of the Photographic Society of Philadelphia. One of the challenges of being a member is the monthly assignment theme show – for instance, April’s theme is ‘humor’. Each month the results are displayed at Joe’s Coffee Bar at 11th and Walnut Streets in Philadelphia.

Cemeteries in Color

It takes but a modicum of intelligence to realize that cemetery photography doesn’t lend itself well to such themes as Humor and Spring – cemeteries are dark, foreboding places, right? I don’t photograph puppies romping through fields of tulips, so the assignments are sizeable challenges for me.

But are cemeteries really that somber? Some are, sure. But garden cemeteries were created with the idea that cemeteries could be a nice place to visit, to walk, and enjoy the scenery and beautiful sculptures. Many garden cemeteries in the U.S. are arboreal wonders, so it’s difficult to avoid photographing gorgeous crimson azaleas or flowering pink dogwoods. Springtime can be rather breathtaking in a garden cemetery. When photographing splendor, however, its much more effective to use just a splash of color rather than allowing the bushware to take over the image. It creates a more balanced composition.

See for instance, the bronze patina sculpture of the seated woman from West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia. The spare azaleas frame the statue and complement the greens in the image in a very balanced manner. The flowers add a comforting familiarity to the statue while maintaining the mysteriousness of the statue and its setting. Another useful tool for controlling color is to use a polarizing filter to make your skies bluer. Would the “Dogwood” photograph have the same impact if the sky were cloudy white? Probably not, which is why I plan my photographic outings in part on the weather and time of day. (See 11 Tips for Taking Pictures in a Cemetery for more on this topic.)

For a great book on color photography, check out Camera Craft: Landscapes.

Cemeteries in Black and White

Color photography is typically what comes to mind if you’re thinking about springtime, right? But for those who prefer black and white over color, capturing the essence of spring can present all sorts of creative challenges. Black and white images, as a rule, have to stand on their own since they don’t have color to help define the image for the viewer.

Monochrome images are an abstract impression of what our eyes see. In fact that may be why I prefer black to white to colo r. It allows me the flexibility of letting the viewer define a photograph on his/her own terms (which may also be the reason I dislike titling my work-titles in large part define).

The image “Sprouts” (to the left) is an example of a somewhat abstract image. You can see what is there (grass and tombstones), but the angle suggests a grave vantage point (pun intended). The scene is more than a snapshot – it represents new growth against a backdrop of death. The glow around the buds adds to this effect and was made possible by a front-lit sun at dawn. Monochrome, more so than color, also forces you to pay more attention to such things as white space and the juxtaposition of random and orderly shapes, all of which can make or break a composition.

For a great book on black and white photography, check out Black & White (Camera Craft)

Hand Colored Black and White

For another effect, you can blend color and monochrome. Check out the cemetery bunnies to the left and you’ll see what I mean. Around Easter, people in Philadelphia will post kitschy three-foot-high bunnies in the ground near the burial place of their loved ones. The photograph was originally made on black and white film. I hand-colored the clothes and hats with photo dyes to reproduce the original colors. I then scanned the photograph to create the digital image you see here. You can also do this in PhotoShop. The whole thing is very labor-intensive, but that’s a story for another day!

These are good resources for hand coloring photographs:

Software: Adobe Photoshop CS2

Book: The Art of Handpainting Photographs

Website: www.atplayphotography.com

Conclusion

Spring is a time of renewal. I hope this article gave you some new ideas to use in your photographic meanderings. While some images work best in black and white, others work best in color. The images of the dogwood-covered mausoleums and the azalea statue, for instance, would have much less impact without the splash of flower color. In my opinion the “Sprouts” image of the freshly grown new grasses against the tombstone backdrop would appear trite if it were done in color. But you might find an entirely new way of expressing this scene in color, one that would cause VanGogh to bow in homage. Its up to you as a photographer to visualize how the image would appear in both color and black and white, then decide which, for you, makes the best composition.

Check out more photography tips at PhotographerCoach.com.

HeartRide is a recent digital print of something I shot back when the earth’s crust was still cooling, probably on high-speed Ektachrome at a carnival. Nothing compares with slide film for zero exposure latitude!

NYHearts is a storefront I shot in New York’s East Village in December 2005. I had the digital SLR and shot at 1600 ISO. Then, I Photoshopped the living hell out of it to make it warm and fuzzy!

Come see these and other work put up by members of the Philadelphia Photographic Society!

Joe’s Coffee Bar
1100 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-592-7384

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.

Why would a photographer want to see this show?

From a photographic perspective, there are many images that prompt the photographer to think, “How did they DO that?” For example, the lightning between the woman’s fingertips.

But there are other images that cause one to one wonder who they were trying to kid. See for instance, the cutout fairies pasted onto the photo or the “levitating” chair featured in this article.

Was darkroom trickery invented the day after Daguerre made the first successful metal plate photo in 1839? Remembering that Photoshop was not extant, this begs the question: if it was okay to do this in the darkroom and have it perhaps considered art, why is digital photographic manipulation looked down upon by photographic purists? What were the purists saying about Man Ray at the height of his career? But I digress.

Why would others want to see this show?
The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult was essentially a history how advocates of spiritualism in the late 1800s, early 1900s tried to use photography to provide proof of the otherworldly: spirits of the dead, dreams, auras, and thoughts. An interesting use of the technology, as the Met reminds us that a unique characteristic of photography has always been its ability to record the visible, material world with truth and accuracy.

What was the exhibit like?

The show consists of loads of double-exposure parlor tricks of 1850s ghost photographs and scores of photos from public and private collections throughout Europe and North America. According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the exhibit focused primarily on the period from the 1860s to World War II, when occult and paranormal phenomena were most actively debated and both supporters and skeptics used photographs as evidence. The photos are exhibited on their own terms, without judgment or comment on their authenticity. Along with the groups of lame photos of hands “floating” from between two curtains, there were several scientific sections. One showed electromagnetic emanations (Kirlian photography) captured on film, and another, radiographs (x-rays). Think of the skeptics Willhelm Roentgen must have had when he told the world about his discovery of x-rays in 1895!

During the unveiling of the science of photography, no one quite knew its capabilities. Could it document spiritual presence during a seance? Roentgen knew only that x-rays (he called them this because of their unknown origin) could be used to photograph the inside (bones) of a human. Was it really that far-fetched to believe that some other form of photography could document our thoughts? I’d like to leave this discussion by telling you what I heard a young woman tell her four-year-old daughter at the show: “…this was from before we knew any better.” Everyone starts out as an opening act. If the ridiculed phrenologists didn’t come up with their theories in the early 1800s, our later understanding of the functions of various lobes of the brain might not have happened the way it did. (For a fascinating account of this, see Stanley Coren’s book, The Left-Hander Syndrome.)

Three Shockers
The naked spiritualist Eva C. -Juliette Alexandre-Bisson’s photographs of Eve C., the naked spiritualist introduces us to a great gimmick, if nothing else. Nothing up HER sleeve…! She’s featured on the cover of the book with the luminous apparition between her hands.

Ectoplasm – Sort of a milky or fabric-looking substance that allegedly exudes from the body of the medium and can be transformed into materialized limbs, faces and even the entire spirit bodies.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – There was a photograph showing Conan Doyle’s (author of the Sherlock Holmes stories) son Denis with his dead father’s likeness appearing above him. Conan Doyle was a true believer in spiritualism. The photo above, “Fairy Offering a Bouquet of Bluebells to Elsie,” was “authenticated” by Conan Doyle!

Parlor Tricks (My Favorite Photo!)

It was easy enough to create such an image on film with a box camera having a 10-second shutter speed-the “mortal” holds the pose and the “spirit” walks into the scene, pauses long enough to faintly materialize on film, then backs out. But think of how creative and difficult this must’ve been! Think of the outtake plates! As Georgia O’Keeffe (1977) said: “The cliffs over there, you look at it and it’s almost painted for you, you think until you try.”

Is the show worth seeing?
The 120 stunning and surprising works in this exhibition reflect an attempt to reconcile the physical and spiritual worlds. Much of the show as well as the book, deliver sometimes beautiful photographs of us – people – and what we sometimes believe. You really never experience anything without learning something new!

Photo References

Albert Von Schrenck-Notzing (Germany, May 17, 1912)
The medium Eva C., cover of book The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult.
Frances Griffiths and Elsie Wright (British, 1908-1986 and 1901-1988)
Fairy Offering a Bouquet of Bluebells to Elsie, 1920
Edouard Isidore Buguet (French, b. 1840)
Fluidic Effect, 1875
Eugene Thiebault (French, b. 1825)
Henri Robin and a Specter, 1863

After attending the exhibition, “The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult,” at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in November 2005, I realized I could never satisfy my curiosity for this work in a packed gallery. This was an entire subculture I knew nothing about! Luckily, the book was available.

The authors have extensive experience with occult photographs and consider it an important piece of the field’s history. (They are curators, also, of the exhibition.) While maintaining a strong non-judgmental position about the subject matter (spiritualism) in general, one of the authors, Sophie Schmit, is quoted as saying: “If I hadn’t considered at least the possibility of it existing,” she said, “I don’t think I would have ever been interested in doing the exhibit.” (Ref: strangeattractor.co.uk)

How is the book structured?
The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult is a huge coffee table book, containing over 200 color and black and white photographic reproductions. It is laid out in the three sections:

• Photographs of Spirits
• Photographs of Fluids
• Photographs of Mediums

Every time they click their Kodak pics, they steal a little bit of soul

This line from the John Prine song “Picture Show” alludes to the Native American belief that that the white man’s camera stole a piece of the subject’s soul. If we’re tempted to laugh at this now, let us realize that in the late 1800s, many people were just coming to grips with technology. X-Rays were just discovered. They could be used to see through your shoes to see if they were a proper fit for your feet! Was it really that farfetched to think that maybe technology could be used to contact the spirits of the dead? Many Americans at the time were hanging onto the memory of loved ones lost in our Civil War. Could they see them one last time? And the people providing this “service,” were they scoundrels or sincere practitioners? Who was in charge of deciding the limits of physical science? Was it an example of entrepreneurialism at its best…or at its worst?

The book is an interesting window into a period of American and European history (1870s – 1930s) in which many people thought that cameras had more than just the ability to capture the visible world. But indeed, it is entertaining. From a photographer’s perspective, it is simply amazing. From a historian’s perspective-who knew that Mary Todd Lincoln was a believer in spiritualism, held seances in the White House, and attempted to contact her late husband?

Content
This is not just a picture book. The authors of “The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult,” present an unbiased history of how advocates of spiritualism in the late 1800s to early 1900s tried to use photography to provide proof of the otherworldly: spirits of the dead, dreams, auras, and thoughts. It also holds fascinating accounts of the efforts of debunkers of the movement. Many luminaries were involved: P.T. Barnum, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and the pioneering photographer, Jacques Henri Lartigue. Were these people loons? Were they duped? Feel free to decide for yourself. Any way you look at it, sensationalism sells newspapers. Consider Weegee, the pioneering tabloid photographer, and the entire genre he spawned! Was he good? Bad? Right or wrong?

The book appears to be comprehensive, without ever being tedious. All subjects covered were new to me, so they held my interest. Sure, you could easily believe charlatans would make attempts to dupe little old ladies out of a buck by offering to contact their loved ones in the great beyond-and there are many photographs of such parlor tricks. But I’d no idea people used to believe “fluids” called “ectoplasm” could be emitted from various orifices of a medium, with the medium’s thoughts projected onto the fibrous ectoplasm! See photo below, which was made by Albert von Schrenck-Notzing, the distinguished psychologist in 1911:

In summary, the book is most engaging. It informs us of a past many of us would choose to disbelieve. In fact, when I was at the exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I saw a woman in her late twenties kneeling next to her four-year-old daughter, saying: “…this was all from before we knew any better.” The authors’ goal is to present the past to us, without passing judgment. They are quite successful in doing this.

Does it leave you wanting more?
The chapter on “Thoughtography” left me with the urge to try this, or witness someone doing it. The idea is simple: Aim a Polaroid camera up against your head, project a thought into the camera, and snap the shutter. Your thought appears on film! Makes me wonder why you even need to snap the shutter…like when the scam “psychic” phones and asks for your credit card number-shouldn’t she already know it?

Do I recommend the book? Absolutely! It is of interest to people of varied purpose-photographers, spiritualists, debunkers of spiritualists, scientists, historians, sociologists, and the downright curious. All those with telekinetic powers…raise my hand!

Photo References
Mary Todd Lincoln with ghost of her dead husband
Taken by William H. Mumler, 1870-75
The medium Eva C. with the materialization of a woman’s face
http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/12/warner.php

1. Planning
Do some research (the Web is best) on the cemetery you want to visit, or search for all the cemeteries in a specific geographic area. Some websites publish photos of the grounds, the monuments, the famous (and infamous) inhabitants. If you’re looking for angel statues, that cemetery 50 miles away may only have flat-to-the-ground bronze plate markers.

2. Get permission
Most cemeteries have a “front office,” in some sort of administrative building. First ask permission to photograph the grounds, and abide by their rules. You may have to sign a waiver. You may have to pay a fee. Its even possible that photography may not be allowed (a good reason to call ahead!). By all means, follow their rules. Especially the one about closing times-that’s key. I’ve been on the wrong side of a locked gate enough times to know what it feels like to have your blood freeze!

3. Be respectful
Cemeteries are typically consecrated ground and its just not cool to be running around jumping over tombstones while a burial ceremony is in process. When photographing headstones and other monuments, compose your scene so as not to get names in the photograph. This can be construed as invasion of privacy if you attempt to publicly display and/or sell the photograph.

4. Do no harm
Do not break anything. Do not rut a muddy lawn with your car tires. Do not lean or climb on monuments. Expect not to be allowed to use a tripod (as this can disturb the plantings), so bring fast film. If you see detritus lying about, leave it alone-yes that old marble angel head might look wild on your mantle, but don’t be a thief.

5. Time of Day
From a photographic aspect, early morning and late afternoon sun provides the best shadow detail, so schedule your visit accordingly. Of course, if the sky is overcast, this doesn’t apply! If you must shoot at noon, or on an overcast day, you will not be punished. However, your images will lack punch.

6. Sun Position
Simply put, it should be at your back, illuminating your subject. If your subject is against a dark background (e.g. the storm clouds in the image “Pillared Angel,” all the better. Contrast is your friend.

7. Composition

a. Landscape or Portrait?
Why a vertical (portrait) composition is more appealing to humans is beyond the scope of this article. Just accept that it is.

b. Rule of Thirds
Look at the image “The Bishop.” This may appear at first to be a centered composition, but look at the hat. It occupies the top third of the frame. Why this makes the image appear more balanced will forever puzzle historians. Regardless, the Rule of Thirds quantifies for us why this composition is more aesthetically pleasing. The rule says: as you (mentally) divide the frame into thirds (as you compose the scene through your camera’s viewfinder), place your main subject at one of the dividing lines. This holds true for both vertical and horizontal compositions.

8. Favorites
Ask the groundskeepers what their favorite monuments are. You may be led to one that is ultra cool, but you’d never have found on your own. “Child With Shroud” is such an image I made at Greenmount Cemetery in Baltimore, MD. I am very grateful to the groundskeeper who showed me this-it’s one of my best!

9. Companions
If you must bring a friend, make sure the friend is like-minded. If you’re both there to create the same art, great. Don’t bring a date–you’ll both be gravely disappointed (pun intended!).

10. Show Me the Gear!
With regard to equipment, travel light. You may be doing a lot of walking. Take extra batteries. Wear a baseball cap to shade your eyes from the sun. Carry a newspaper or magazine to use as a lens shield in case the sun is being a nuisance-this could make the difference between an almost great photograph and a great one.

For film shooters, take extra film (ISO determined by weather conditions) and an assortment of lenses. I’ve found that most detail work can be accomplished with a “normal” 50mm lens. A 135mm standard telephoto, or medium-range zoom is very handy as many monuments are on high pedestals. I don’t do much landscape work in cemeteries, so wide angles aren’t that useful to me.

For digital shooters, take extra memory cards. Bear in mind that in full sun, you’ll never see the pictorial image on your LCD. You need shade for this. Most digital point-and-shoots have a x3 optical zoom, which should be fine for cemetery work. A x10 would be marvelous (equivalent to about a 300mm standard camera lens) but you’ll need image stabilization to get decent shots.

11. Share Your Work with Others
Why keep great images buried in a shoe box or on your hard drive? If you don’t have a website, open a free (or paid) Flickr account and upload your pics!