Cities of the Dead

Prague Jewish Cemetery

Jews in Praha lived in a ghetto, and thrived there. They had only one Cemetery, and were not allowed to expand it. They had to bury their dead. They could not disturb those already buried, so they did the only thing they could do: they went up. They removed the headstone, added fill, buried the next level of people and placed both the old and a new headstone back on the grave. They did this five times in most areas and nine times in one section. The end result is this crowded, strange, visually stimulating place of sacred magic.

Krakow Jewish Cemetery

Do you remember Schindler's List? The Krakow Jewish Quarter is the original home of the Jews whose lives were saved by that list. There was 65,000 of them living here before the nazis, only 6,000 survived the holocaust, and only 157 are living there today. This Cemetery was misused by the nazis as a dump. They threw refuse in here that created a giant heap of garbage. Ironically, the headstones which were covered by trash were spared the other, more permanent vandalism. Many Jewish cemeteries in the area were destroyed completely, and their headstones removed to pave roads.

Cemetery Island

Venice is more complex than we know from here. It is not a single island, but several islands and a mainland section. The other islands have other names, of course, but they are all part of this beautiful old metropolis.
One island is set aside for the dead: Cemetery Island. It was two islands at one time. Fill has joined them together to make a larger Cemetery, but it is still very full. Despite a variety of space saving arrangements, there is a frequent cull of the departed whose living relatives have gone, or for whom there is less money than love.

Christopher Columbus Cemetery

This very old, and very large cemetery deserves much more than I can give it so far. It was amazing in its architecture, its story and its parallels to the city of Habana and the island.

The page is not all up yet. Most shots are up, though.

Community Cemeteries

This is a mixed bag of photographs. I have always shot in cemeteries. I'm not sure why. Sometimes I like the lines, sometimes the history, sometimes the irony. They are beautiful…and a strange cultural fetish.
Some of these shots are quite bland. Some more interesting. I suppose it depends on what you are looking for.

Fern Hill