Cemetery Man - Galveston
Mar 14, 2018 12:17:58 #
Floyd R Turbo
Loc: Kingwood, TX
These pics were taken in a Galveston, TX cemetery in May of 2015. I tried to find him but he was gone by the time I got over there, so I don't know who he was. I used a Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-HX300 set on auto, hand held. I thought he was a very interesting subject.
Mar 14, 2018 12:21:05 #
I disapprove of shooting photos or bothering those in close contact with their loved ones. Leave them their privacy.
Mar 14, 2018 12:49:50 #
I think it was a great photograph of true emotion what ever that emotion may have been, if you didn't disturb him no problems. Did you think to look on the head stone for leads?
Mar 14, 2018 13:01:01 #
Back years ago, shots like this were called "human interest" shots.
(ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_interest_story)
Mar 14, 2018 13:38:45 #
There is something very intensely personal about these shots that makes me a little uncomfortable. I wish you got his permission. If it was me, I would be very unhappy to find these photos posted without my knowledge or permission. Grief is very personal.
Otherwise, they are very interesting and moving.
Otherwise, they are very interesting and moving.
Mar 14, 2018 14:07:30 #
Very interesting pics! I agree about the privacy but having visited many a cemetery, these headstones look much older than the man himself. The cemetery is also very overgrown so my amateur deduction is that this might be a transient. We have a few of those at the older cemetery near us.
Mar 15, 2018 08:24:04 #
Katydid wrote:
There is something very intensely personal about these shots that makes me a little uncomfortable. I wish you got his permission. If it was me, I would be very unhappy to find these photos posted without my knowledge or permission. Grief is very personal.
Otherwise, they are very interesting and moving.
Otherwise, they are very interesting and moving.
I spent times in cemeteries and have come across many people like me who are interested and fascinated by the various structures and stones. Thus not everyone is there in grief.
I would say that the "model" is probably a transient, perhaps homeless, who stopped in to enjoy the daisies. From the shots, I seriously doubt that he cared about his being photographed. He would have reacted after the first click. BTW, cemeteries are considered public areas in most cases, unless posted otherwise.
I do make a point to talk to those I photographed after the shots, to get to know a little history of the cemetery. It is amazing how much history many provide.
Mar 15, 2018 08:29:50 #
I have a feeling he didn't know who was buried there. The style of the stones would pretty much date them back to the 1800's. They appear to be be sandstone and may well even be unreadable. I tend to agree with deer2ker's analysis.
Mar 15, 2018 08:55:16 #
wanderingbear
Loc: San Diego
So distinctive. I photograph homeless men. Some with approval some at a distance. Most have beards and faces that mirror the Hard years. I hope to put them together in some form to display. One does need to be sensitive. Great photos.
The Bear
The Bear
Mar 15, 2018 08:56:03 #
Actually;
He use to be the owner of a very fine Italian Restaurant in Galveston that went out of business in the great crash of 2008.
This led him into a downward spiral of alcohol and he ended up on the street, homeless and broke.
He stopped at this
1800's cemetery to "talk to the spirits" and get ready to cross over to the other side.
Upon having his photo taken, he was discovered by Hollywood, signed to a MEGA contract, and is now know as
"The MOST interesting man in the world;" in those well know commercial....
Fake new?
Maybe, but.......
Wasn't it a nice ending?
He use to be the owner of a very fine Italian Restaurant in Galveston that went out of business in the great crash of 2008.
This led him into a downward spiral of alcohol and he ended up on the street, homeless and broke.
He stopped at this
1800's cemetery to "talk to the spirits" and get ready to cross over to the other side.
Upon having his photo taken, he was discovered by Hollywood, signed to a MEGA contract, and is now know as
"The MOST interesting man in the world;" in those well know commercial....
Fake new?
Maybe, but.......
Wasn't it a nice ending?
Mar 15, 2018 09:13:52 #
Floyd R Turbo
Loc: Kingwood, TX
Thank you all for your comments. I hope to go back and see what is written on the other side of the tombstone.
Mar 15, 2018 10:55:17 #
Floyd R Turbo wrote:
Thank you all for your comments. I hope to go back and see what is written on the other side of the tombstone.
"No photographs, Please."
Just kidding. Do let us know what you did find.
Mar 15, 2018 14:11:57 #
I agree with Joe Blow. There is something very wrong in taking this man's photo in this circumstance. Leave him alone!
Mar 15, 2018 16:26:35 #
nice shots, he was talking to someone or maybe all of them, very touching, 
Mar 15, 2018 17:42:05 #
I think photographing from an angle that made him unrecognizable would have been the right thing to do in those circumstances.
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