Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA

As one of the first rural cemeteries in the country, Laurel Hill Cemetery, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a National landmark. Both of those distinctions landed it on my “to go” list. Fearing the impending winter and its weather-related travel restrictions, it was time for another day trip to the City of Brotherly Love with my usual co-pilot. Now that I am right next to “the bridge,” a trip to Philly is even easier than ever. And there is always so much to do and eat there–Philadelphia’s historical and cultural and vegan games are strong, making the less than two hour drive well worth it. But Laurel Hill Cemetery is such a beautiful place, this post will only be about my favorite things to take pictures of: weathered and forlorn angels stricken to the Earth in mourning, nature thriving amongst the dead, the texturous layers of stone that play with the sky and its light, and the soft walk within and reversing of a sharp finality. I resurrect with my camera. Oh, how I love to capture time!

Laurel Hill Cemetery was founded in 1836.  To add a bit of context, the only earlier rural cemeteries established in The States are Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Mount Hope Cemetery in Bangor, Maine (both on my list). My Green-Wood in Brooklyn was established in 1838. The intensely gorgeous Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris which I visited in 2017 was established in 1804; this is the most visited cemetery in the world.  Laurel Hill Cemetery is 74 acres, perfect for an afternoon–unlike Green-Wood’s 478 acres which requires multiple trips and numerous checks of the time lest you become locked in as I have.  Though even with its size, we did not have the time to explore its entirety.  But the lay of the land, its views of the Schuylkill River, and the vast quantity of eroding ladies to commiserate with… Laurel Hill stole my still beating heart, as evident by the quantity of images.  I shall return.

From the outside

Many of the arms of Laurel Hill’s ladies have eroded away. But still, she lifts his coffin to allow his soul to escape.  Art doesn’t care about science all too much.  Just in the ways it serves its own purpose.  

This cemetery is a ladyfest, I think I mentioned.  And like I had been lead by bright hue of foliage my last cemetery visit, I followed the draped yonic figures pointing to the heavens. 

A peaceful gaze and a heavy heart

With the stars in her sight, she is called Aspiration.  Carved from granite in 1933 and marking coal big whig Henry Berwind’s place of rest, a similar bronze sculpture came prior to her, marking William Arthur Rogers grave at the Forest Lawn Cemetery at Buffalo, New York. (source) ….annnd now that cemetery is on my list.

Where’d he go? Up there.

A dramatic carved lion

Time kills

The best sky for a photographic mission in a cemetery

Time also blurs features.  I don’t know what you look like anymore, but you’re an angel either way.

A shy glance before it erodes. Check out the fancy radial tilt shift I did.

Take to the sky–a Tori Amos song I overuse for cemetery photo captions

The sun comes out and makes a whole different picture

It’s as bad as you think

Gosh, there are so many wonderful monuments in Laurel Hill.  Closed books and bookmarks

Stoned

And this sky too

This looks like the middle finger and, well, it ought to be.

Lazy-armed angel

Comfort

A dude.  Meh. 

I think… I am out of angel captions.  

File under fictitious. Used in the Rocky movies…Paulie and Adrian (like Yo Adrian)

We were checking out this little snake, which was dead, when we felt a pair of eyes on us…

A red fox!  Apparently the foxes of Laurel Hill Cemetery are well-known. But we certainly didn’t know that!  How exciting to see this gorgeous creature checking us out by the maintenance area.  The link above has some fascinating facts about these cemetery residents.  But I will bask in the magic of twice being stared upon by a gorgeous fox in the wild with my close friend.  She blamed our menstrual cycles.  Wild animals we are… and foxy too.  File under #nofoxgiven

Till next time.