During a holiday in 2010 I visited a special cemetery in Lloret de Mar. There was something elusive that touched me while I was wandering armed with a camera. I soon learned that many of Gaudi’s followers were responsible for the special graves and statues on the graves. It seemed to me as if death was presented in a very vivid way and I was wondering, how was this at home?
I remembered holidays with my parents, in Switzerland and Italy and many cemetery was visited there. I was not surprised by burning candles in a cemetery and there was always a pleasant atmosphere, at least in my memory.
The question arose why I knew so little about Dutch cemeteries and that one visit at the time triggered something in the photographer in me. There is something indefinable in photographing in cemeteries. It is as if a whispering voice shows me the way, I wander in forgotten sorrow, in old mourning. Gradually I discovered that our funerary heritage is a fragile thing, it is more than perishable. Graves are being cleared out, the art and especially the love with which goodbye has been said disappears. In a few exceptions, a grave is given the status of “cultural heritage”, I visit many cemeteries where countless graves will never get this status and yet I want to offer them an eternal stage.
I have been sharing my cemetery photos for several years via social media (stopped this due to lack of energy), it is an art that stands alone. Not appreciated by everyone, certainly not recognized by everyone. There is a taboo that slumbers, you have to respect death and stay away from it….
I respect death, and mourning, without a doubt. Over the years I have lost some loved ones, first some close friends, then lost my father in an accident and my best friend to a terrible disease.
After my father died in 2011, I found it double to visit a cemetery armed with camera,was I defying death? Was I scanning my own insensitivity? Strangely enough, I found peace and inspiration during my visits to the various cemeteries. It’s like I want to catch something invisible and intangible and be able to share it.
With this site I want to show that there is something beautiful in the way we say goodbye to our loved ones, I want to capture the fragile heritage so that it is not lost. This website is the first step in this, I will share photos per cemetery in the hope that I will add something with it. Now I have not visited many cemeteries and it is not my intention to show a lot of graves. It’s an impression of my visits to these cemeteries, which are often part of our cultural heritage. It takes time to share these collections as a whole per cemetery, I am still a few years behind but little by little the site is starting to get more shape and content.
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Karen Nadine
Graveyard Serenity 