A Peaceful Moment in a Graveyard. (c) Richard Shears
I found her in a graveyard, sitting with a white dog on a tombstone. I had an hour to spare so I decided to sling a camera over my shoulder and wander around an old churchyard containing the graves of early pioneers to Australia. The ancient cemetery, in the Sydney suburb of Newtown, was totally deserted…except for the figure I noticed sitting on a tomb.
It was an extraordinary scene, so surreal. I slowly approached and asked if I could take a picture. She smiled and nodded in agreement. I took just four shots. I didn’t ask her to pose. I didn’t ask her to move. I just let her sit there because there was nothing, absolutely nothing, in the picture that I wanted to change. Everything worked. The overhanging branch provided an upper ‘frame’ and the gravestone on the right provided a perfect balance to the lady, the carved figure on the headstone adding to the balance, for she was facing my accidental model.
And she did indeed look like a model. Her strong features were enhanced by her shaven head, the position of her slender arm a copy of the pose adopted by her dog. If I had taken her into the graveyard for a photo shoot I don’t think I could have done better than the scene that I’d walked into by chance.
Four photos were enough. I had no right to impose further. She seemed to be so much at peace. The inscription on the nearby headstone – ‘Sacred’ – emphasised the stillness of that place. I ventured to ask her for her name: Heather.
I thanked her and wandered off. A short time later, as I made my way out of the churchyard, I thought I would thank her again. The tombstone was empty. The lady and her dog had disappeared.
Porntip, whose 'dead baby' was born alive. Picture Jeff Darmanin
Vets are describing it as a ‘true miracle’ – a baby elephant declared dead in its mother’s womb has been born alive at a Sydney Zoo.
Every time I step out of my door in Sydney these days it seems there’s ‘something going on’ within walking distance – the ‘Under the Blue Moon Festival’, a mobile dance party moving to the beat through the back streets of Newtown and now I present, in all its flair and colour, the Mardi Gras Fair.
Being straight, I felt woefully out of place as I wandered around with my camera, but they were all very kind to me and let me take my pictures. Many people brought their dogs, so I thought two of three of them deserved pride of place in my photo gallery.
So, without further ado, as the pictures speak for themselves, have a look at the gallery and do what many people told me to do…enjoy!
Hound Dawg Having a Gay Old Time at the Mardi Gras Fair
Ghouls and boys came out to play at the ‘Under the Blue Moon Festival’ in Sydney’s Newtown. Fangs got a little scary with blood dribbling down chins but the event had plenty of bite and those who made the effort to don their wings, file their teeth and join in a chorus of howls should be congratulated on the effort.
