Tag Archives: memorial

In Death We Live Though Our Children

Some of you might remember the other week I photographed a memorial for gentlemen that was killed in a motor vehicle accident. This was a tragic event one that rocked hundreds of people in our community and one devastated family.

Have a look at this photo. What do you see?

Christopher at his fathers memorial after he was killed in a car accident.
Christopher at his fathers memorial after he was killed in a car accident.

I took this photo at the beginning of the memorial when the gentleman son Christopher was walking around on stage oblivious to what had become of his father and oblivious to the reasons they why they found themselves inside a church on this day.

To watch his little boy walk around and one point walk over and touch the projected image of his father on the stage was something very moving. The innocence that lives within this child was obvious this day and is a part of me that is envious while also saddened the situation this young boy now faces.

He will never know the hurt and pain goes using a parent losing his father but he will also never know and truly understand the love Brian had for him. He will never see how proud his father would be of him as he progresses through the different stages of life and he will never see the look in his father’s eyes when he tells him, he loves him.

He walked over to me during the event as I was sitting on the floor in the stage, I gave him a polite way even a smile and then before you know it while I should be taking photographs of the event I found myself giving Christopher high-fives and playing pattycake, before one of his family members rounded him up to taking back to his seat.

As with any memorial and passing of someone that is dearly loved it is an emotional time and one that we all experience at some point in our lives.

Someone asked me how do photographers react and deal with photographing such events. The answer for me is quite simple, we deal with it in the same way other people at the event do. We mourn, cry and laugh at the joyful stories that are shared at these events.

Photographing memorials and funerals might seem like an unusual thing to do right!!!!  And I get that. Some families find closure and some use it as a healing process, while others see it as a way of documenting the life of someone that has passed.

This little man in this photo has a full life ahead of him, one that I know will be full of joy and love, he will be surrounded by family and friends and people that love him and will take care of him, however this doesn’t come for free!! The financial burden on this family in the coming months will be great as they get over the passing of their loved one, adjust to the reduction of income and being a single parent.

 


The family started a gofundme page where you can donate money to help this family and give them a kickstart over the next few months.

I would urge you to support this cause as I know their immediate family gives back to the community more than they take. They have supported the youth of Canberra and close friends of mine and for that I can not thank them enough.

More information can be found at the link below.

http://www.gofundme.com/zj6e5dng

 

 

Its Not All Ice Creams and Fairytales!

There are some days in this job that a fantastic, I get to meet lots of people, go to lots of parties and are generally surrounded by people that just really want to have a good time.

Unfortunately sometimes in this job there are days and events which are incredibly difficult…… When I say incredibly difficult I don’t mean technically, I mean personally and emotionally.

The event I covered today was incredibly sad. It was a celebration and a memorial of a young man that was taken in the prime of his life through a motor vehicle accident, leaving a shattered partner and a two-year-old boy behind. 🙁

I don’t know about other people or other photographers but for me being able to capture emotional images I have two put myself in their position, I try and feel what they are feeling be it sadness or happiness.

So today’s event drained a lot of internal strength and emotion, all of which I knew was going to happen beforehand, so I made a plan that after the event I would jump on my motorbike, take my camera and go to a quiet place to watch the sun go down and reflect about all the wonderful things life has to offer.

I think we will need one of these special places and while I don’t necessarily have a special place as the world is a spectacular place are ready, I do like to be able to see a fantastic sunset or sunrise so that is what I did. I raced against the failing light to get to a location where the sun was reflecting off the water and a place where I could collect my thoughts and regain the inner strength that I’d given up to the event I had just photographed.

As a sun was setting I was wishing it would never end.  It was spectacular and beautiful. The calm across the water with the ducks and swans swimming in the shallows gave a nice background to the birds singing in the trees. It was a good way to end a day, a day that was full of emotion so I thought I would share last rays of my day today with you.

Final rays over an emotional day
Final rays over an emotional day