Thursday, July 5, 2012

Eagle and Anchor: A cemetery in Victoria


In my world, no vacation would be complete without a trip to the cemetery. Here I am in Victoria, British Columbia, and it feels good to be back in black and white.  I made a special point to visit this beautiful piece of land which was a 45 minute walk from downtown. It was scorching hot that day, and I didn't much like all the sun exposure I was getting. But, as it turned out, the long walk was one of the best parts of the trip. We got to explore an entire suburban neighborhood of Victoria, which few tourists get to see. Yes, this place was a bit "off the map" which made it even more special. 








It was so interesting, I had to photograph it from every angle. I have often seen owls or other bird imagery in cemeteries, but never an eagle.



When I first entered the cemetery, I found it to be pretty typical. At this point I've seen a lot of Western cemeteries, and I'm beginning to get bored with all the ordinary images: tombstones, crucifixes, forlorn Mother Marys, plaques. At first glance I was worried that this cemetery was too typical to be photographed, that there was nothing interesting or special to record....until I got a closer look...
..and found this statue looking right at me...

 


Almost directly beside the eagle grave was a gigantic anchor grave. This is another image that I had never seen in a cemetery. It was so large, it looked more like a giant sculpture than grave.





On a stone near the anchor was this tiny inscription:


I also found a sun dial in this cemetery! I was so excited because it was my first time to see a sun dial in a cemetery. This place turned out to be full of amazing images.

  
     

The last image I took was of a small, lonely Jesus on the side of a large tomb. I decided that this last image should be in color. 


After a disappointing first impression, this cemetery turned out to be one of my favorites in all the world. The diversity of unique and intereting gravestones is really unmatched in any of the cemeteries I've visited. This cemetery was also located right on the shore of the ocean, so I could smell the sea water the entire time...

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