Recoleta Cemetery Photography Part I

Recoleta Cemetery – used a long shutter speed to blur the people, probably could have gone longer but Humpty was getting bored.

Pictures tell a story that words often cannot. We enjoyed putting together the photography blog post from the beaches in Thailand and it became the inspiration for this blog post on Recoleta Cemetery. I will provide a little commentary while Dumpty will talk about the pictures.

One of my favorite images from the cemetery

The La Recoleta Cemetery still gives me a chills. It’s the most beautiful cemetery I have ever been to. Not surprisingly, CNN ranks it in the top 10 cemeteries of the world. Close to three hundred years old, the cemetery is well preserved and protected by the government. It is the final resting place of numerous dignitaries, artists, actors, Nobel Prize winners and politicians, like Eva Peron.

I guess the child should technically be towards the left of the photo but I thought with the brush rising on the left and some background buildings to the right, this frame was better

The cemetery has 4691 tombs–all above ground. Close to a hundred of these graves have been declared as National Historical Monuments and are protected by the State.

Another favorite – you will see a lot of this black and white treatment with the exaggerated clouds as it seems appropriate for a cemetery

Dumpty and I forgot we even came together. I immediatly got lost in the maze of angels, crosses, Jesus statues and iron gates closely guarding the bones of people past. I was transported to another world–time stopped. Complex spider cobwebs and broken stained glass windows revealed the tomb’s age. Each grave was unique and each grave told a different story.

Love the fact that I got the light to cooperate and shine down at just the right moment

Dumpty and I were so impressed by the cemetery that we came back a second time. We just couldn’t get enough of the place! We hope these photos transport you too.

We will be following up with part II of the Recoleta Cemetery blog; there were just too many photographs for one blog post.

Another instance of light cooperating

This guy just reminded me of some ancient Greek image

High key effect – seemed appropriate

Another favorite – I really like the cloth hanging from the cross and of course the skull

Dumpty took this – blacked out the surroundings to focus on the stain glass

Not really sure why we kept this in the blog but hope you enjoy

I spent more time with different angles at the cemetery – if I ever run a photo tutorial company, I will bring students to a place like this and make them experiment with light, angles, etc.