Edmonton Cemetery

Edmonton

Church Street Cemetery

Opened 1884

Arbus The Photographer

Diane Arbus

Born March 14th 1923 New York

Died July 26th 1971 New York

Diane Arbus was an American photographer who was noted for her square black and white portraits of dwarfs, giants, transvestites, nudists and circus performs.

Personal Life

Born Diane Nemerov she came from a wealth Jewish couple who insulated her from the great depression of the 1930‘s, because her family owned a famous Fifth Avenue department store called Russek’s in New York City. Her father David Nemerov became a painter later on in he’s life. She had a young sister and an older brother. Diane attended Fieldston School for Ethical Culture basically a prep school. At 18 she married Mr Allan Arbus who was her long time sweetheart. They went onto having two girls called Doon and Amy. Diane and Allen spilt up in 1958 and divorced in 1969.

Photographic career

Diane and her husband were both interested in photography. In 1941 the two of them visited a gallery of Alfred Stieglitz a photographer of modern art and avid campaigner to make photography become acceptable as an art form. Whilst Diane was there she learnt about photographers like Mathew Brady who best know for his portraits of celebrities and of the American civil war. He as also had been credited as being the father of photojournalism.

TimothyH O'sullivan a photographer best known for his work on Western United states and of the Civil war. Timothy was employed by Brady’s team and produced some memorial work with the most famous being “The Harvest of Death”. Bill Brandt a British photographer famous for images of all levels of British society and distorted nudes. EugeneAtget was a French photographer noted for he’s documenting style of Paris’s street scenes and architecture.

In the early 1940’s Diane’s father employed both of them to photograph the store to make advertisement posters. In 1946 the Arbuse's began a business called “Diane & Allen Arbus” with Diane as the art director. They shot pictures for Glamour, Seventeen, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and other magazines even though they both hated fashion.

In 1956 Diane quit the business and began studying with Lisette Model. Even though Diane had study early with Berenice Abbott it would be Model that would lead Arbus to her well known methods and style. Diane started working on assignments for Harper’s bazaar, Esquire and the Sunday Times in 1962. Diane switched from a 35mm Nikon to a Twin-lens reflex Rolleiflex which produced the detailed squared image that she is famous for. In 1963 Arbus was awarded a GuggenheimFellowship on American rites, customs and manners it was renewed 1966. Though out the 60’s she taught at a number of schools.

Her first major exhibition of photographs was at the Museum of modern Art in 1967. It was called “New Documents” and curated by JohnSzarkowski. Most of her work was done on assignment like a 1968 documentary shoot, of poor share croppers in South Carolina for Esquire magazine. As her fame increased, Szarkowski hired Diane in 1970 to research an exhibition on photojournalism simple called “From the Picture Press”. The exhibition includes pictures from Weege. Weege was a press photographer and street photographer of crime scenes and the emergencies. Arbus admired Weege’s work.

My views

The first reaction that people have to Arbus work is one on of horror and shock, especially at the images of transvestite’s, dwarf’s and masked midgets. But you could have feelings of intrigued and sadness as you view the picture of freaks. As your eyes ponder over the images, you seem to be compiled to look more deeply into the picture and you can’t help but wonder about the person’s life and how they must of felt. I myself have mixed emotions when I view Arbus work. Diane seem to follow the same theme in many of her later photograph’s were she move away from the more fashionable photo’s she took in her earlier days. Arbus's later work would be the images that would make her famous. By looking at the images of dwarfs, Trans and circus performers, you can’t help but notice that each and every picture as it’s own personality. In most on the portrait’s I have noticed that Arbus liked to take photo’s of women sitting on there beds. I think this was due to the fact that Diane like to meet people and would encourage them to talk about there life mainly in there own houses and dressing rooms. It’s like Arbus as gone into their own personal space and captured apart of their lives.

I feel that in her personal life Arbus had many ups and downs with her depression. I mean if you look her work and her life you find the same. Arbus seem to shoot the high life and then the other end of the scale, with the misfits and down and outs. A sort of documentary on how Diane felt in her life, maybe she felt persecuted like the people in her images. On the other hand maybe she was brought these people to the world’s attention. These people would normally be sweep under the table. At that time in history misfits were better forgot about and definitely not talked about. They were the sort of thing you would see at a circus freak show, were people would pay to see them. It must have been hard for Arbus. She would have come under very hash criticism from society for her very conversable image‘s. Not long before she committed suicide in 1971, she told Model that she hated those images. I wonder what she would think about them these days, as the worlds attitude has change so much since the 60’s and the early 70‘s.

You can see what kind of influence these photograph’s had on her work. I think that Tim O’sullivan with his “The Harvest of Death” piece. With the mist and shocking dead soldiers lying on the grass. In Arbus work she tried to be shocking sometimes like O’sullivan did. I feel that the most influence photographers probably were Weege and Model. The techniques were adjusted and refined from Model’s work. Which all came together to produce photo’s of people with intellectual disability. A brilliant piece of work, even though Arbus didn’t realise it at the time.

My Favourite Arbus

One of my favourite photographs of Diane Arbus is “A Flower Girl at aWedding” 1964. Firstly when you look at this picture you can’t help but feel that it isn’t a very nice day. It’s like the young girl as just walked out of the mist in the foreground. She is a very ghostly figure in appearance, with a blank expression on her face. Was this picture taken early in the morning or at dust you decide. Truly an amazing photograph that Arbus took that morning.

Occupy London Camp

Occupy London

Occupy London is an on going peaceful protest. They are demonstrating against social injustice, corporate greed and the lack of affordable homes in the UK. The protest started on the 15th October 2011 with two encampments one in Finsbury Square and the other one located outside St Paul's Cathedral. The camps were set up to show solidarity with the Occupy Wall street protests that had started in America early in the year.

I visited St Paul's over the Christmas period to see the tents and protesters for myself. There were quiet a lot of tents mainly to the west side of the cathedral ranging from one man tents to small marquees. A lot of these tents were zipped up and closed. There was not much sign of life going on within them like they were out for the day. The bigger tents were occupy with a wealth of information about what the demonstration and occupancy was trying to archive and what it was all about . The protesters are trying to say that the current system is unsustainable and undemocratic and unjust. There is a need to work towards alternatives ways. They are all from different backgrounds ethnicities, genders, sexualities, disabilities and faiths and they want to stand together across the world. They do not want to pay for the banks crisis that was creative by the economy. They do not accept the cuts that the government are planing and implementing which are not necessary and they want an end to global tax injustice. They also are saying that our democracy represents corporations and not its every day people. These are some of the demands and statements that the Occupy London Group have said and issued on 16th October 2011 and 500 protesters of Occupy London collectively agreed upon this.

We are living in trouble times and people and family's are finding harder and harder to survive. This system as be around for along time and works very well when it works. Banks lend money to business to help them make money and set businesses up. This has been going on for years and years as society as evolved. Why do people think that by change this system things will change. I do agree with some of the statements that occupy London have made but not all of them. The managing directors of the banks earn a lot of money and a lot more in bonuses. This seems not to be a big issue when everyone else is doing well, fully employed and have a future to look forward to. I think if the banks were to take note of this and reduce they salary and bonuses when times are hard and the economy is not doing well, people would think more of them and would be less likely to complain.

These are some of my views on this subject. Some people may not agree with me and some people will. The time is not right for a revolution things are not the same as there were in the past. People of today are too interested in their self and what’s good for they family’s and scared on losing their jobs. There is no solidarity these days Margaret Thatcher saw to that with the destruction of the unions in the early eighty's. There are far too few people these days who would be willing to stand up and force changes on the government that are necessary for the country and the world. The governments policies need to change so the less well off get a better deal in life.

I do not know if things will change in the near future or in the distance future I can not predicted that. Occupy London are due back in court on the 11th January 2012 to see if thy have to leave the area around St Paul's. I think they will lose their fight unfortunately but lease some people would have heard what they are all about and maybe things might change. If not the next protest will be big because people will only take so much before there is a revolution

Oxford Street

Oxford Street

A busy shopping street and some photograph's

of the people who shop there

Oxford street is a very busy shopping street and as been for over a hundred years. Oxford Street dates back to the 12^th century when it was called the Tyburn Road after the river that runs south of the street. The river now flows under the street. The street is also famous for transporting prisoners along it as it was a direct route to the gallows. The prisoners would past by, on they way to Newgate Prison. In 1729 the street became known as Oxford Street. Late in the 18^th century the Earl of Oxford purchased the surrounding fields and developed the area and it became very popular and well known for its entertainment. The area did not become known for its shops until the 19^th century. Oxford Street is 1.5 miles long from Marble Arch to Tottenham court road and as a number of flagship stores and hundreds of small shops that are famous around the world.

One of the most famous stores on Oxford Street is Selfridge’s. Selfridge’s is the second largest shop in the UK after Harrods both stores are known world wide. Selfridge's was founded in 1909 by H Gordon Selfridge an America business man. After a visit to London in 1906 with his wife he found the shopping dull and was unimpressed by the British shops. He decided to invest £400,000 in building he's own. He decided to build Selfridge’s at the western end of Oxford Street.

At that time in history this part of Oxford street was not very fashionable. The store opened on the 15^th March 1909 and became an immediate over night success. This was achieved by offering the consumer a pleasurable and fun shop rather than shopping because you have to. Selfridge's put the merchandise on display so customers could examine the products before there decided to purchased them. This was unheard of, if you went into a store, shop at the turn of the century you was expected to buy something. Selfridge's became the market leader in the way it treated its costumer and coining the phrase “the customer is always right” and other well known phrases. There were over five floors packet with merchandise all being easily accessible by the customers. The staff were taught to be very helpful and to sell product none aggressively. Selfridge's had elegant restaurants, a reading room, a library, a first aid room and a silence room these were all designed to keep the customer in the store as long as possible. This was the foundation of the way we shop today.

Some of the buildings and shops on Oxford Street date back to the 18^th century like John Lewis opening its doors to the public in 1864. John Lewis started out as a small drapery shop and by early 1880's the successful shop had to expanded. They decided rebuilt the store and make it into a modern day department store of its time. When his son John Spedan Lewis took over in the early part of the 19^th century he founded the John Lewis Partnership in 1921. The Oxford Street store is still the flagship of John Lewis and it is the third largest Department store in the UK. There are a number of flagship stores on Oxford Street like Marks & Spencer which is the companies largest store in the UK being 16,000m2 in size. Debenham's also as its flagship store there too. Debenham's was originally called Marshall & Snelgrove. Marshall & Snelgrove started doing business with Debenham's after the WW1 ended in 1916 and in 1919 Debenham's fully merged with Marshall & Snelgrove but it only changed its name of its Oxford Street store in 1973 after the store was completely rebuilt. The House of Fraser decided to make the Oxford Street store its flagship in 2001 after the group took over D H Evans. The D H Evans store had been on the Oxford Street site since 1879. It was one of the first shops to have escalators serving each floor. These are just some of the hundreds of stores on Oxford Street.

Oxford Street is still one of the busiest streets in the world and as repetition for having fine department stores. About a month ago I went there to capture the hassle and bustle of the street with my camera. Also I wanted to see if it still have the charm that I remembered from my childhood. I was not disappointed, it still had the charm being one of the grandest streets in England with its beautiful and elegant buildings and lovely architecture built many years ago. As I walked up and down the street I came to the conclusion that its still got it's charm and magic that I remember from my childhood. It's not like the shopping center's that you visited these days. Oxford Street is the original shopping center's that happens to be a street not a block purposely built for shopping. Oxford Street as a lot of history and we should be proud of the street.

Self-Portriat

 

At college we had to make a one min video of our self's. As i like making music and taking alot of pictures. As i normally take the pictures it was very hard finding some pictures with me in them. I used a programme called Reason 6 made by propellerheads to make the music. The tune is a trance production. I used final cut pro to edit and produce the filming. The pictures were shot using my Nikon 3100 DLSR. Anyway this is what i came up with. Hope you enjoy it.

Victorian Angels

Brompton Cemetery

Victorian stone carvings of angels in Brompton Cemetery

west London and other grave stones.

History

I Pray For You

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Brompton Cemetery with my DSLR camera. I shot a lot of images of the very nice stone carvings of angels there. I decided to enhance these pictures to bring out the beauty of the angels. Some of these stone statues have been there since the cemetery opened in 1846. I thought that the red and yellows would bring out the grainy texture that the angels and other gravestones have there. They have a very holy feel to them and are quite spiritual in appearance. Most of the angels are looking up to god or looking down at the love one they have lost.

The place is full of history the cemetery was one of seven large cemeteries and was founded by private companies in 1840. These cemeteries were called The Magnificent Seven. It was set up to cope with the over spill of the inner city burial grounds that were unable to cope with the rising number of deaths. The cemetery was designed by Benjamin Baud and set out in the style of St Peter's in Rome. The cemetery is rectangular in shape and is around 160,000m2 in size. It is design in such away that it gives the feel of an open-air cathedral. The centrepiece of the cemetery is the big domed chapel that is flanked by a number of catacombs. The catacombs were build to offer a cheaper alternative to being buried and having a burial plot. This idea did not take off and only 500 places were sold out of the thousands that were on offer.





Victorian Burial Customs

The Funeral




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Please Father

The Victorian funeral was a very elaborate affair with the coffins being intricately carved and gilded. Sometimes the horses that pull the hearse were dyed jet black and was fitted with black strapping and have sliver mouthpieces. The Victorians also used to ostrich feather plumes to adorned the hearse and horses. There would have professional mourners called mutes to walk in the funeral procession and to look melancholy. There would be pallbearers who carried batons, feather men and pages all dressed in gowns. These processions would start off at a walking pace and even taking a detour to incorporate important places so that there could maximum the display of mourning.  After a certain time everyone on foot would jump onto the coaches and the walk turned into a brisk trot. At the cemetery gates the procession would return to a walking pace once more. The service would take place and then the coffin would be lowered through the floor to the catacombs, or there would be a small ceremony by the graveside. Women were not aloud to attend this part of the funeral.

After the funeral a feast was held at the home of the deceased. This would be for all the family and distant relatives as well. Victorians would also send out cards to all the deceased friends, business friend and other acquaintances. The cards were supplied by the undertaker and were printed in black and sliver. The cards were embossed with symbols of grief. The cards were intended to remind people of the deceased so that they could pray for them. These cards were called mourning cards and contained all the information of the funeral day and times.             

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Door Way To ?

Flecher's Place

Mourning

The Victorians had very strict social codes to follow when it came death. In the early 1800's death was apart of every day life. The average time that a person was expected to live was only 42. The modern Victorians were expected to follow the rules on death and mourning or face scandal and ostracism from society. When someone died within the house the clocks would be stop at the time of death, mirrors would be covered so that the spirit could not get caught up within the frame of the mirror glass and the curtains would be drawn. The body had to be watched over at all times until the burial took place.

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I MissYou

Then a period of mourning would begin first with deep mourning this would last for a year and a day. Within this year women would only wear somber coloured clothes and the man would wear black armbands, hatbands and black gloves. There would be no social engagements. Some rich households would fit out all the servants in mourning clothes. The mourning customs were very complex and many women at to consult guidelines to make sure they were carrying out the process the right way.



Headstones Symbolism

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Child Angel

The Victorians were a very religious and spiritual people, they were expected to spend as much as they could afford to build a monument for their dear beloved. The Victorian graves were a much more elaborate affair just like the funeral. The monuments would be appropriate to the deceased and the family’s social status. The monuments were symbolic or religious with various statues like Angels, different types of Crosses, broken columns and wreaths. These were the main symbols of the era and what people of these days may not realize is that each symbol had its own meaning. If you walk through these old cemeteries you will notice that the Victorians tombs and statues are very elaborate. What I noticed when I was walking around Brompton cemetery was the large amount of angels on top of the tombs in all different types of posses. I wondered at the time if these had a meaning. When I came home I did some researched in to this idea and found that they did.

Angels generally mean a messenger between God and Man. This would depend on the pose that the angel was in. If the angel had a trumpet in their hands it would symbolize that the deceased was praying for or calling for resurrection rebirth. If the angel was in a somber pose like weeping this meant grief, or simply that the persons dead departed is being missed very deeply. An angel with its wings partially open or in a flying pose would mean rebirth or a guardian being with you at all times. Angels are an agent of god and more often the angel would be in pose were they would be pointing to the sky or heaven. This would symbolize spirituality with the angel guarding the dead. 

I Will Wait For You

The Victorians used other types of symbols like a broken column symbolizing that a life had been cut short. Wreaths symbolized victory in death and Christian eternity. The urn was a classic symbol simply meaning mortality of the soul and the cross with a circle around the cross piece would mean eternity. The Victorians were very much like the Egyptians with they tombs and Highgate cemetery is a good example of this with its Egyptians tomb like structures taken from Egypt architecture. A pyramid shaped tomb would symbolize eternity life and was thought to stop or prevent the devil reclining on the grave.

The modern funeral is not a very grand affair any more not like the Victorians one's were and it's a shame that people do not erect monuments for our dead any more. Yes we respect our dead but we do not build some kind of monument that will stand up for years and years so that people in the future could be remember that person. We just lay them to rest and place a modest type of headstone on the grave or a plaque. Maybe its money or just gone out of fashion who knows.


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Twined in Time



Little Angel

Heart of God