I find that military cemeteries and memorials are an attempt to bring order to the chaos of human conflict. The neat rows of uniform grave markers, the minimalist and tidy green space, they stand in contrast to what I perceive as the disruption and disorder of conflict. On Memorial Day this year, the staff at Cambridge American Cemetery put out pictures in front of the grave markers and along the borders of the Tablets of the Missing:
ISO 25 4.15mm 1/750sec f/2.2
Seemingly a small detail when viewed from a distance, but amazingly personal when examined at close range.
ISO 25 4.15mm 1/540 f/ 2.2
The cemetery is a sobering reminder of the human cost of war, and the display puts a face on it and makes it more personal:
Most blog posts I write are about the editing process I go through. This post is about the importance of sometimes letting an image stay in its “as taken” state. The first two images are shown as shot and I would argue tell their story without the need for editing. The last image is in the standard Instagram format with the filter I chose for it accenting the light that illuminates the name on the grave marker.
When I am taking photographs, I often am thinking about what I would like the final image to look like. In this case, I knew that I was going to want the final images to have very little editing done to them. While my usual minimum edits are white balance, cropping, and sharpening, for the first two photos skip even those steps. What do you think of my unedited photos? are there times when you skip editing in favor of an “as-is” final photo? Feel free to leave a comment below.
Cheers!
Photography Journal Blog 
A military cemetery does not need editing. Its story is so strong, it can stand alone. 🙂
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I agree, it is a very strong subject matter.
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Thanks for sharing this one. I know this cemetery very well. 💕
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It it a lovely spot. Thanks for your visit and comment.
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I appreciate your comparison between the chaos of war and minimalism within military cemeteries…invites contemplation. The editing of “Faces of Cambridge” invites a contrast between the gentleness of her marker to those in the background. I love playing around in the digital darkroom so very few of my images are “as is.”
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Thank you for your kind comment. Most of my images have been edited in someway, even if it is a few simple steps. I do love the ability to make many edits though and then just discard what does not work.
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Great post and take on the challenge, Amy. The content and your point of view mean much more than any post processing. If what has come out of the camera has done that without any other manipulation, then I agree, let it be. And, yes, sometimes I, too, just let whatever comes out of the camera stay as is,
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Thank you, I do think that sometimes there is just no need for additional tinkering.
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What a great post, Amy. Your point of view or interpretation of your photos makes me look at them in a completely different way than I would have. Great post for the “Order” challenge. I definitely agree these photos don’t need editing.
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Thank you very much for your kind comment.
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I completely understand. Every shot has to be approached a new.
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It is interesting though, that I don’t always do that, I have a set number of edits that I “always” do. While I would argue that they are edits that are needed most of the time, it is to my detriment I think if I don’t at least stop and ask if they need to be done this time.
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Amy, I especially liked the “looking upward” perspective of the first photo. I also was struck by the “repetitive” effect in your second photo, the “R” names, one after the other, along with the photos. It was like person-name-person-name … interesting! I appreciated your observation that your minimal edit process is “white balance, cropping, and sharpening,” and that those first two photos didn’t even have that. So interesting to see that those were non-edited. Did you take them w the iphone or with a larger camera, just curious?
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That the names and photos were lined up was what I was looking for in that particular photo. I thought it would make a powerful image to have them set like that. So, after taking several shots, I went looking for that image. For this post, the photos are using my iPhone. I had my Canon 50D with me and I used that as well, but in this case for these photos, I thought the iPhone was the better tool.
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There is indeed something very special about military cemeteries. There is a softness to the unedited photos that adds to the sober and orderly atmosphere at the cemetery. Lovely captures.
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Thank you very much.
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I agree the photos add a personal touch to the horror of war. Lest we forget.
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Putting a face on the numbers is very helpful to understanding the sheer numbers.
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The image of the cemetery is very moving… I like the angle you took and perspective is well captured.
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Thank you Amy!
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Just to say that we have had an ongoing Internet connect problem (frequent drops in connection), which, happily, is now fixed, so some of my intended ‘Likes’, as for this post, didn’t register. So just to add now that I appreciate your photos in this post, which so effectively honour the war dead and remind us of their individuality. It is also an interesting response to the theme: order. I agree that we need to think before we edit our images. It is too easy to “over edit”, but as you say, at least we can undo the tinkering that turns out to be unnecessary.
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Thank you for revisiting and adding in your “Like”. One of the beautiful things about working with digital is that it is very easy to undo edits or completely start again.
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What a great incentive and those faces added to the names definitely give it a very personal touch and meaning. This was interesting to me since I have never thought to take photos in a cemetery. I don’t know why, but somehow it has felt awkward and like I would be disturbing those who rest there. I couldn’t even take photos at my grandmother’s funeral, even though I am very grateful my uncle did. Taking steps outside our usual habits and patterns is great though, it adds perspective and gives us room to see things in a different light. For this reason I think it’s great to leave photos unedited, so we can see them and appreciate different aspects of what we have captured. Even to have that in mind while taking the photos definitely changes its composition–or so I imagine. I especially love the photo with the faces of the fallen, but the other one gives a very real feeling. I don’t know if that is because you told us it’s unedited or if it’s the result of what you had in mind for it. Great post!
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Thank you very much. I would say the choice to shoot in a cemetery is a personal one. To me, there is so much history, stories to be told, that I almost always reach for my camera. I do understand that not everyone thinks that is appropriate. I do keep in mind that people tend to want to have a private moment while they are there, so I steer clear of photographing actual events in progress unless I have been asked to take the photo. Thank you for your comment.
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Sad, but beautiful photographs.
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It is a beautiful place for reflection.
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Great comparison.
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Thanks 🙂
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Oh the faces with the names. Poignant. I’m catching up on posts I’ve missed and this one gave me pause. Can hear the bugler playing taps. Powerful.
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Thanks so much, I love this spot but the photos they put out for this weekend did make it that much more moving.
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Definitely amplified the feeling of loss.
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What was interesting to me was that there are women buried there too, something I just never think about when I think of military deaths in WWII, so that was a bit of something for me to reflect on.
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