Graveyard photography

Graveyard photography, respectful OR disrespectful?

There are so many beautiful cemeteries around the world that are resting places for loved ones some of which have been around for centuries, some have sadly eroded away over time, others have been reclaimed back by mother nature.

From my recent post on my Instagram I was surprised to see the hashtag for graveyard photography or cemetery photography as this intrigued me to look through the tag as I saw some beautiful headstones along with some surprisingly charming scenery within a resting place, now I'm not saying that a cemetery has to be creepy and all the nature has to be half dead to contrast with the area, but it also interested me more as I wanted to know about these graves and the people buried there.

I posted a picture of a chapel in a cemetery neat to where I live as the architecture of this building is beautiful along with some well maintained hedges that act as a border going up to it, in this cemetery there are some graves that date back to the 1800's I did want to take a picture of them but I also felt like it was disrespectful to that person who is laying there.

This is where it brings me to my question is it disrespectful? some people would argue with me saying either yes or no with some people saying yes as that grave has no living relatives (or known of) to ask for permission (and I wouldn't go searching for the said relatives to ask as that could take, days, weeks, months or even years) but the way that I look at it is that I would want to know the history of that person.

Is that person a someone of status back in there living years? did they event something or were they a solider to serve their country? I know you can look through records to try and find that person but within that moment in time when your standing there with the camera this is the last thought that you think of as you as a photographer are so interested at the aesthetic of the gave, the craftsmanship of that stone or just the placement of the gave.

Personally myself I want to respect the dead as I wouldn't want to upset anyone, but it was just a thought that I had as I know that some people would have mixed feelings about this, if anything I want to celebrate death as a remembrance of that person. As from my perspective I don't see this as disrespectful as us as photographers are not harming or defacing the stone we are simply photographing something that is pleasing to our eye.

Overall I think that us as photographers as long as we ask for permission, don't break any form of property and feel comfortable and confident in what we are doing then it is okay.

(Also on a side note when shooting models etc.. make sure that they are confident and comfortable too and all expressed in this post is purely my opinion)

*ALL PHOTOS ARE COPYRIGHTED BY SHANNON COOK PHOTOGRAPHY*