My good friend, Paul Connell, is a photographer based in Dublin. During lockdown he found that the nearest open place he could walk in and get a bit of fresh air – without having to dodge joggers and cyclists – was the Mount Jerome Cemetery.
He started to notice the plastic “floral” tributes that people left on the graves.
At first it seemed like just another way we litter the world with our pollution. All the more so because in Mount Jerome, barely a blade of grass survives the Roundup regime.
But then, his photographer’s eye began to see a strange beauty in these flowers. Laid there in moments of profound grief and respect, they seemed to acquire an aura, a poignancy in the plastic.
Today Paul launched his new web site and there’s a lovely gallery of some of these faded roses.
Congratulations, Paul, on the new web site and thanks for all the beautiful and moving images!
Michael Hannah, Dundee, 1 July 2020
Wonderful work!