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| Photos by Laurie Beth Zuckerman |
Cemetery images are my thing, when it comes to photography. (And altars, churches, roadside shrines, etc.) I have been taking photos in graveyards since I graduated from college. Originally I ventured into the two pioneer graveyards in Eugene, Oregon to study the wild and cultivated flowers, and then later on to paint watercolors while I was in graduate school at the university. I got hooked immediately and have been visiting cemeteries everywhere I have traveled since, accumulating hundreds of photos which I regularly browse through for inspiration. Few of my images actually make it into frames, except when I am having an exhibit of my artwork, as these photos go so well with my home altars and installations. More of them make their way into Powerpoint lectures I give at museums, libraries, or universities, especially for Día de los Muertos. The best photos will eventually make their way into self-published books that I have been working on for the past several years. There are so many that I cherish.
The first photo above is a digital composite using a grave from New Mexico and "inserting" an image of a Madonna from Colonial Mexico to appear behind the glass of this shallow nicho. The second image uses the same grave "window" and displays an image I photographed in an old roadside chapel nearby in Northern New Mexico. I love this image because of the bird especially. It is from an image on a processional banner that I have never seen elsewhere. I assume this is the boy Jesus. A Mexican tile picture of the Santo Nino de Atocha is mounted on the outside of the chapel. The photos below show this chapel in La Manga. I felt so lucky to photograph this church altar and study all of the popular Catholic images and statues honored in this chapel.
Please visit my dear friend, Rebecca Brooks at
Recuerda Mi Corazon for her weekly "Postcards from Paradise" postings by artists from around the world.
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| Processional banner in La Manga Chapel |
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| Processional banner sits at the altar of the chapel |
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| A view of the whole tiny chapel |
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| La Manga Chapel, Northern New Mexico |
2 comments:
dear laurie,
your collection of cherished photographs lay witness to the extraordinary beauty that lies in wait for all who take the time to look deeply with eyes wide open. we share a profound love for the expressions and outcries that even in their most simplest forms strive to convey the divine. thank you for allowing us to relish the fruits of your long years of joyful discoveries.
Lovely work Laurie. I too (and I'm sure we are not alone in this) love photographing churches and graveyards in northern New Mexico, both when I lived there in the early 70's, and on most of my visits since then.
I like the collages, and that is one great church. Maybe we can troop around together someday!
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