Fresh when it gets here from
Julie Barrett
Monday, January 23, 2006
It was just too rainy to shoot this weekend. So from my archives, here's a picture I shot in New Orleans in 2001:
I took a walking tour of the French Quarter which ended with a tour of St. Louis No.2 cemetery. This may sound a bit morbid, but I love art associated with cemeteries. The expression of grief through art fascinates me - respectful yet very emotional. Modern burial grounds seem so sterile - a statue here and there surrounded by rows of tablets set flush to the ground. It's as if the same folks who set their minds to making every house in certain neighborhoods look the same have gone on to dictate style in cemeteries. Or perhaps it signals a shift in attitude: We bury our dead but honor our living. Or it's a realization that we can't take it with us. Or maybe funerals have simply become so danged expensive that a simple marker is all a family can afford these days. I could ruminate on this for hours and never arrive at a satisfactory answer.
Tags: Pictures