Suffering 2-Just in Time for Halloween
Rachel
Rachel walks alone on the grounds of the very place she died and was buried along with those who loved her. The decayed shell of the church that burned and caved in so long ago, claiming those lives, stands sentinel over her prison on earth. She, in the lonesome company of her own thoughts and memories, her soul never to know peace, walks and mourns and longs to join the very people whose lives she so destroyed with her treachery.
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I know this one is REALLY going to shock some people who probably didn't think I had it in me to go this far out on a limb to take a shot.
I took this on Saturday afternoon, in between rain showers. It was taken at the old cemetery next to the collapsed Baptist Church I posted shots of earlier this year. Those were among the posts I lost and haven't gotten around to recovering since I switched over to a .com site.
It was a very blustery, unpredictable day. It was actually perfect for this Halloween themed shot. It was wet and muddy which made things a bit tricky for me. I didn't want to kneel in the mud with my good black shawl, boots, and skirt. I had to use the timer since I don't have a remote. I used my husband to focus on for the shots. Thanks Mark! It must have been quite a site for anyone who drove past.
I actually have another version which I liked better in some respects and less in others, if that makes any sense. I picked this one because I liked the overall composition a bit better than the other even though in the other I think I am positioned better. Maybe I will post it later, I haven't decided since I think, even though it's different, it's still a bit redundant.
A part of me is worried that this shot may upset some people and I apologize if it does as I really don't want to offend anyone. It was actually tough for me to bring myself to do this shoot the idea for which I came up with several weeks ago.
David asked why Anglesea changed it's name to North Wildwood. I found this info in Wiki:
"North Wildwood was incorporated in 1917 as a city from what had previously been known as Anglesea Borough and North Wildwood Borough."
It did not elaborate.
*An apology...It appears that my comments section was down intermittently over the weekend. It seems to be a sporadic issue. I want to apologize to anyone who may have had trouble commenting. There are still some issues; I'm not getting updates on comments in my email and the comment count is not updating on my pages. I'm not sure what the problem is, but it is a network issue and they are "aware of the problem". If you leave a comment I will still get it even if it doesn't show up on the main page.
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1-800-IM AWARE
Be sure to check out:
Project New Jersey
A collaborative photoblog created and administered by:
Justin Gaynor
ABOUT ME
HOME
posted by Laurie at 6:00 AM
19 Comments:
Laurie, this shot punched me in the gut and knocked me out for a bit, wothout a doubt my fav of the day....8.75/10
I really like this photo, especially the desaturation of the background while keeping the red rose in color. Great creative composition...
Very cool shot. Perfect lighting for this. Very timely, too! :)
Glad you were brave to do this piece. Brillant arty shot.
Great creativity Laurie! You are certainly expanding your boundaries!
a very beautiful picture. but it is realy a composition as an autor, with a model!
great
Scary... yet beautiful.
wow - very creative Laurie with nice image processing.
brilliant shot....!!
great composition...nice PP,
8.5/10
marvellous image - i didn't notice the rose, but did the hair. all this needs is something like Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights as a soundtrack and you've a true Gothic Masterpiece!!
PS. thanks for Anglesea
Very creative and a bit disturbing, which means that it is very effective! Excellent!
Excellent execution of a well thought out shot, Laurie. Great processing as well. How lucky you are to have your husband stand in as your focal point. I always have to use a broom or my old tripod.
To be honest I didn't expect this photo! My initial thought was somebody moaning about a long lost one. I think you did a good job setting this one up. You decided to lift Rachel out by desaturating her surroundings, which I like because this shows she's not one with the 'real world'. But there is room for a couple of improvements in my opinion. The arm and the hair indicate that the person is young, I think the message of this photo may be more intense when the person would be older. (I understand that it may be tough to find an older person to do the job) The rose is positioned on the edge of the gravestone which makes it a bit hard to notice. Maybe it would have been a bit more prominent if she would have been holding it in her left hand. Don't take this all to hard, I honestly think you did a great job!
This is a fantastic shot, Laurie! You did an awesome job! Great composition, post processing, framing....it all works great!!!
Fokke
Ahh, but Rachel was a young woman betrayed by Love when she died.
The rest of the story has yet to be told.
I agree about the rose and I had another shot with the Rose in a better position, but the composition was much more narrow and I like the inclusion of more of the cemetery in this shot although in the other I like the "model's" pose better.
In the other one Rachel's name is Catherine though. :)
(The model isn't as young as Dear Rachel in the story. The Rachel in the story was 20 something, the model is 43...It's me!)
This is really cool. You did a fine job on this photo.
Happy Halloween!
Publish and be damned ! .. Great shot Laurie...a standout.
This is unbelivable!!! Perfect for the day!!!
I noticed the rose right away, in the first look ... maybe the girl thing to notice flowers ...
AND when I read the passage I was blown away -- THAT's YOUuuu!!!!
Goodness Gracious !!! Thats you!!!
When I read ..
" I didn't want to kneel in the mud with my good black shawl, boots, and skirt" ... then I stared at the photo long ... Now it's a million times more interesting ...
and from the photo you look early thirties ...
SUPERB!!! The concept and the results are marvellous!
Laurie, your best post ever. Love the selective colur use here. Extremely effective. I am more than impressed.
Suby
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