So I went for another wander (by myself) down to the Melbourne General Cemetery at the end of the our lane. I justified it by saying it was half way between working and exercise. In reality choosing to take photographs has never really been work…. and walking ….well Bruce Chatwin expressed it best….
“I haven't got any special religion this morning. My God is the God of Walkers. If you walk hard enough, you probably don't need any other god.”
Having said that I thought I would head down to the south eastern section of the cemetery past the Catholics (Roman or otherwise), past the Presbyterians, to the Jewish plots. I’m not sure what I was hoping to find. As it turns out these graves of the early Melbourne Jewish community look much like all the others. Chisled platitudes on litchen covered headstones … “He spent a God fearing life….” ( I never understand why anyone would worship a God who wanted to be feared)….There was a good smattering of Hebrew and the system for dating the deaths of grave’s occupants is different to the Gregorian calendar. According to Hebrew time reckoning, we are now in the 6th millennium. The count starts in year 3761 BC, which the 12th-century Jewish philosopher Maimonides established as the biblical date of Creation.
But of more interest to me than the look of most of the graves was one small tragic story….
In Sad but Loving Memory of Dorothy (Dot)
Dearly Beloved Daughter of Kate Harper,
Killed in the Richmond Railway Disaster
18th July 1910-5670 Aged 18 years.
A Gentle and True companion.
Well, I hadn’t heard of the “Richmond Railway Disaster” but it’s not hard to find out about it….
“On 18 July 1910, nine people were killed and over 400 were injured when, in heavy fog, a train from Elsternwick crashed into the rear of a train from Brighton at Richmond station. It is believed to be the first Australian rail accident recorded in photographs”
Having seen these photograph, I can hear the scream of metal on metal as the train tries to brake at the last second, I can smell the steam and fear of that foggy morning, and I can begin to appreciate the horror that Kate Harper must felt later than day when told of the death of her teenage daughter. So this wander through the cemetery has led me to wonder…..
What responsibility does a documentary photographer have to show the world the disasters that befall us?
I’m not one for gratuitously recording suffering, but surely images like Thomas Hoepker’s 9/11 image from Brooklyn or Eleonora Costi’s pictures from Chernobyl enlighten us more than they defile us?
To me the answer is clear. You must photograph what is in front of you with honesty, a sensitivity to those affected by the situation and perhaps with an intent to engage with the viewer on a level deeper than sensationalism.
I haven’t found out who took the pictures at Richmond Station in 1910….but in some sense whoever it was, is the unknown ancestor of Capa, Salgardo, McCullin and Koudelka.
I also wonder in years to come what the iconic images of our current predicament will be?
