A little child

Posted by Adiemus (Christchurch, New Zealand) on 30 December 2006 in Miscellaneous and Portfolio.

To read the tombstones on the graves of little children makes for sad and solemn reading. Small lives lost before they had a chance to make the most (or mistakes) of their lives.
Snapped at Ruru Lawn Cemetery, Bromley, Christchurch, NZ. This little chap was only 10 months old.

Hi guys!
This year I'll be putting up fewer shots, but hopefully improving the quality at the same time. Sort of a 'best of' if you like.
This community is terrific in so many ways - I love it even if I don't often comment. The people on here make it a great place to be.
I'm also writing a health-related blog - if you're interested, hop on over to http://healthskills.wordpress.com/
and make yourself known!

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Comments (7)

Shuva from Hyderabad, India

Yes, its indeed a very sad sight.

30 Dec 2006 1:12am

Sylvia from Milano, Italy

Interesting capture, death written in stone--- the lichen makes wonderful patterns too.

30 Dec 2006 3:23am

@Sylvia: Thank you, the lichen patterns fascinated me too, as well as the texture of the different surfaces on the headstones. There are more of these pix to come.

Kerstin from Paris, France

This is sad... nice, poetical shot though...

30 Dec 2006 8:59am

@Kerstin: I felt quite a lot of sadness walking through the old cemetery. What made it more poignant I think was the broken headstones that someone had reassembled, this was where I found this image.

Still from Valence, France

Sad and beautiful both...

30 Dec 2006 9:24am

@Still: Thank you, it was quite an experience wandering through the graveyard of the early settlers in Christchurch - they had a hard life in the early years, many women dying in their early 20's, often in childbirth. We in NZ sometimes forget that childbirth was quite a hazardous thing in the early years.

Amit from Santa Clara, CA, United States

tone in this image is good

30 Dec 2006 1:28pm

@Amit: Thank you, it was quite hard to find softness amongst all the broken bits of headstone and gravel. The light was quite harsh, but I think I managed to soften it by taking when a cloud was passing over the sun.

Kate from Kyoto, Japan

Nice shot ! Old cemeteries have lots of opportunity for beautiful poignant photos, don't they? Back before I had my digital camera I liked taking photos in the old Bromley cemetery. There were lots of lovely wild flowers among the graves. But later vandals made a sad mess of some of the nicest old graves.

30 Dec 2006 7:48pm

@Kate: Hi Kate
This was quite close to the Bromley cemetery - and I know what you mean about the vandals - so many tags, and broken headstones. Someone has been piecing together the bits they can find, so I've snapped a few of them, to be posted later on. There are lots of wild flowers, and every now and then you can see a new bouquet of flowers probably because it's just been Christmas.