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Angelus Rosedale, cemetaries, cemetary, cemeteries, cemetery, d90, Grave Marker, grave markers, head stone, headstone, los angeles, nikon, nikon d90, nikon dslr, statuary
On my second trip to Angelus Rosedale, I searched a bit further afield and discovered some lonely treasures scattered about the grounds. The first two such treasures, a pre-1900 female Angel sculpture and a pre-1890 male Angel sculpture with a star gracing the crown encircling its brow, stood guard over a hillside that looked down upon yet more graves on the premises.
I decided to render the pictures in black and white, which brings the pictures into strong relief, making them even more striking than had they been shown in their original daylight aspect. It takes away distractions and helps the viewer to see the deeper details of the work. The female Angel’s wings, for example, show incredible detail work. The spines of the feathers themselves are even visible, along with the artist’s carefully rendered flaws in the edges of those feathers. It seemed right to adopt her as the masthead, so to speak, of Illiterati Photography.
It’s funny when you look into the face of the female Angel, and if you allow yourself to see it, you’ll recognize the features of actress Drew Barrymore, who wouldn’t even be born until decades hence.
Makes you wonder.
The male Angel, h
owever, is a stronger figure. He stands guard with a strong yet gentle expression. He wears a star-capped crown, lighting the way of the souls that people the grounds. You can see that he’ll keep them all safe and sound.
The final figure is of an angelic watcher who kneels atop the marker over one of the graves. Unlike the previously mentioned Angels, it’s more difficult to see her wings, which seem to peek out from over her shoulders. She seems to see inside you, wanting to know what your business is at the cemetery. I found myself greeting her respectfully and even asking if it was okay to take her picture.
Silly, I know, but you had to have been there. If and when the time comes that you do see her, you may find yourself doing the very same thing.
As we walked the Angelus Rosedale grounds, we discovered this disturbingly lifelike figure, collapsed with grief over the top of the marker. It drew us in to look much more closely. I’ve included two aspects of the figure to show how detailed it truly is.
We found this rather curious grave marker at the Angelus Rosedale Cemetery. If you look closely, you will see that each exposed side names a different Summers. There are a few more markers at Angelus Rosedale that feature this curious style of identification.
We spent an afternoon visiting local cemeteries and since my friend hadn’t yet visited Hollywood Forever, we also stopped there so she could take her own pictures. She suggested I shoot this aspect of the mausoleum, as she thought it would be fun to show the depth of the place — the blue reflection on the floor from the stained glass window was what caught my eye.
Even though the day was overcast, the flowers were beautiful in their natural coloring.
The water droplets line these slender flowers like crowds of people on a vivid orange sidewalk.
I thought a detail of the back of the Isola Bella Angel’s head was in order.
This beautiful old lantern hangs in the entryway of the historic Patio del Moro apartment complex in West Hollywood.
As part of my wanderings around West Hollywood yesterday, I came upon this beautiful statue of an Angel, created as part of a fountain that fronts the entryway of the Isola Bella Townhome complex.
This is the same flower from which I got the shot of the pistil and pollen below.
