For the last six weeks, I have done nothing photographically but work on a project about the cemeteries of Paris, with a focus on Père Lachaise. The first draft of the resulting book will arrive this Wednesday. In early March, I am back in Paris with an 85-scene shot list. I will be expanding my efforts to five additional cemeteries, including one of the only two churchyard cemeteries in Paris. They were outlawed long ago.

The one series of images that I am still missing is snow gently falling on the family chapels and mausoleums in Père Lachaise. I had no luck during my journeys to Paris in December 2016, 2017, and 2018.

To a certain extent, a cemetery is a cemetery, although the ones in Paris are the most atmospheric I’ve encountered. So when it suddenly started snowing today, I headed to Chicago’s Graceland Cemetery, where all Chicago’s heavies are buried—at least they thought so. I would have liked a little more snow, but you take what you can get. For me the new addition was Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks. He is next to Ruth Page; both are on the opposite of the lake from the second Palmer House. The Palmers certainly loved the Ancient Greeks.

Walking among the dead and stone was quite the experience. Based on the absence of footprints in the snow, I was the only one in the cemetery. I did see two caretakers driving in official cars, but they were the only trace of the living I encountered.

[Click on an Image to Enlarge It]

Looking Around for Possibilities

Wreath, Mausoleum, and Bronze Door During a February Snowfall

A Pyramid in the Chicago School Style

Color in a Black and White World

Carrie Eliza Getty’s Tomb, Just Across the Lake

Louis Sullivan’s First Contribution to the Chicago School of Architecture

Snow-Covered Cross

Every Day is Memorial Day in the Cemetery, Even If There Are No Mattress Sales

The Old West Comes to Chicago

Marking the Remains of Charles Hutchinson, the Founder of the Art Institute of Chicago and President of the Board of Trade

The Second Palmer House

Built Into a Mound of Snow-Covered Dirt

The Surrounding Neighborhood

Mammoth

Death Lurks in the Cemetery

Kinda Blue