Just down the laneway from where I live, is the Melbourne General Cemetery. It was created in 1852, the same year that the Palace of Westminster opened beside the River Thames. There is an section inside the Northern Gate called “The Roman Catholic Area”. Here, attached to most of the headstones are small oval photographs of the grave’s occupier. These graves belong to Italian migrants. The Anglicans, the Jews, the Presbyterians and the Muslims stick with chiselled words…. For them imagery is not a way to honour the dead.
When I look closely at the portraits I find them deeply interesting. Most are black and white, some are beautifully hand coloured (Row 2 Column 5) and a few were made on colour film.
Some of the older ones were made in a simple studio setting (Row 4 Column 3) but the vast majority are images taken from day to day life and then contoured and placed on a light background. I wonder why an oval is the acceptable Roman Catholic way to frame a deceased relative? (A few of the Chinese graves about 100m away have images of the dead, but they are all in rectangular frames)
If I zoom right in and look closely at each person I feel as if I can intuit a little of their personality…..
Row 1 Column 4- Proud, maybe a little defensive, perhaps damaged by the move to Australia, but determined to maintain her dignity.
Row 10 Column 1- Confused by what life has dealt, perhaps a little naive, but hardworking and trustworthy.
Row 14 Column 1- A romantic, warm and passionate. Easy to fall in love with….
Yes I know it’s ridiculous! How could I possibly know these things….But the words on tombstones give us nothing! They are a string of formulaic clichés …. “Loving daughter of”…… “Sadly missed”…. “beloved son and brother”…. “always in our thoughts”…. “take your rest.”……
So maybe, just maybe, the photographs are actually more honest than the words.