A Curious Sight in the Cemetery on Prospect Hill

On a milkgrey fall afternoon, I found myself wandering through the vast Prospect Hill Cemetery in Gloversville, New York. I meandered aimlessly amongst the dead and pondered superstitions of the living. Our civilization is adamant about marking the resting places of our loved ones, and just as adamant about neglecting those markers and letting the elements do the erosive forgetting for us.  I bore brief witness to names that passed away a hundred and fifty years ago. If there is anything to the idea of a resting place, I thought Prospect Hill seemed as pleasant as anywhere, noble trees holding up the rolling hillside.  But, I’m not a believer and the absence of any sort of spiritual presence weighed on me, a tactile emptiness…

As I angled down a shallow gully, a striking momunent caught my eye in the distance, an immediate impression of a powerful towering physique, athletic with a great sense of motion… except as I focused on it, I realized it was actually a tree. And, what a tree! Gnarled and black and crooked. I have no idea how it appeared to me as a human figure. I approached it with high curiosity and could not help but notice how out of place it looked, how sinister. Yikes! At the base of the tree sat two dislodged headstones, smoothed by age — or perhaps to protect interlopers like myself from some terrible knowledge. I wonder who would know the truth.

I dropped reverently to one knee: And, I framed a photograph, noting with perverse glee the dilapidated house in the background complete with rusted out recreation vehicle — how very Gloversville. And, on cue, a black crow added punctuation to the ridiculous scene with a hollow cry that was swallowed up by the endless grey sky.

Leica M2

Voigtlander 35mm

Arista Premium 400

HC-110 Dilution B

 

 

 

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2 Responses

1. Sarah Tollefson says:

   9 November, 2011 at 1:34 am

   Finally I get to see it! That is totes creepy and awesome! Great photo!

   Reply
   • MickO says:

     9 November, 2011 at 2:52 am

     Thank you! And you’re the fist comment on the new RFB! I’ll have to come up with a reward

     Reply