A Funeral and Celebration

bdcolen

I spent the better part of Saturday in Walpole, MA, at the funeral - followed by brunch - of a good friend's 88-year-old mother. Wanting to be as non-intrusive as possible, I shot everything with the Lumix GF1 with a lens equivalent to a 40 mm on a 35 - no zoom, no long lenses, no flash, no moving around during the church service. Needless to say, while my style is my style, I shot any number of things because I knew my friend would want them. (You wouldn't be seeing any color were it not for that. :wink )



The rest of the images are here.

lizzard_nyc

I like the shot, the only part I don't see is the "Celebration" part.

You captured a very somber mood.

The lady staring straight at you is a little disconcerting.

thoth

This is a really nice set, B.D. I particularly like the younger woman miming the older in number 15.

bdcolen

lizzard_nyc wrote:

I like the shot, the only part I don't see is the "Celebration" part.

You captured a very somber mood.

The lady staring straight at you is a little disconcerting.

Well, disconcerting is good, Liz - though I don't think she was staring at me; keep in mind there were numerous people, and an urn, between us. As to celebration - this is one of about 40 images - follow the link.

rainbow

I think she is staring at you wondering who the heck would take photos at a funeral...

That probably would be well beyond my comfort level. But I went into the gallery and was very impressed with the sense of the celebration of her life that ensued. It seems that everyone had good memories to share of her life and that it was a great way to honor her memory.

Thanks for posting.

D'Buggs

NICE!

That's what I call a Funeral - A true celebration that will be cherished by all that attended. I quite like the baby shots in this series and the expressions of over-all, wellness and acceptance.

Patti

I particularly like the reception photos capturing the generations. Those photos of the young mother and child really illustrate the circle of life aspect for me. There are some captures of women in conversation at the reception that really stand out for me as well. Laughter through tears.

Wil Davis

Great set of pictures!

My favs are 7, 10, 15 & 24.

What an elaborate monument!

Of the colour, #36 is the one.

I also like #43.

God! That wallpaper!

Love your work (well, most of it )

Thanks for sharing!



- Wil

bdcolen

Wil Davis wrote:

Great set of pictures!

My favs are 7, 10, 15 & 24.

What an elaborate monument!

Of the colour, #36 is the one.

I also like #43.

God! That wallpaper!

Love your work (well, most of it )

Thanks for sharing!



- Wil

Thanks, Wil - And to those who said there was a woman staring at me - I went back and looked again, and realized that I was looking at the wrong woman. Yes indeedee, there is someone staring at me- and if looks could kill, I'd be in the ground along with the subject of the event.

I have long thought, however, that we do not pay enough photographic attention to funerals and wakes. Funerals are the the one family event that really bring everyone together. Sure, weddings are a big deal. But funerals seem to be even bigger family magnets. (You can skip a wedding and send a present - but if you skip a funeral, there is no way to buy your way out of failure to attend. ). Funerals often tend to be final gatherings in more ways than one - family members come together who may never do so again. So in terms of documenting families, funerals really are "it."

rutt

Way back when I first discovered smugmug, I got them to add "funerals" to the category list for reasons very similar to B.D.'s thoughts. I'm not really the funeral photographer that B.D. is, but when I've brought my camera to the receptions (never been to a wake, would like to), I've gotten great shots and the people have been very open/grateful.