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Tim Russert's unexpected death touched many of us here in Washington. Flickr user Mr. T in DC captured this reverent shot of Russert's final resting place in Rock Creek Cemetery. The temporary marker and wilted flowers are small and inconsequential in comparison to the media giant's life. EXIF.
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way to end the week on a sad, sad note. i'll be drinking a gallon of Guinness for lunch now in remembrance of Tim.
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Thanks, DCist! It was a sad scene there, but a very peaceful, park-like spot. I plan to return at some point, to photograph the permanent monument after it's installed.
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Great. A monument to someone that was the personification of lame beltway media and gossipy news.
I'm just glad he died before the election.
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Wow, notyou way to be a complete asshole. And by "monument" I believe he means gravemarker.
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I don't have anything bad to say about Russert, but I do think it's a little bit morbid and odd to be making documentary pilgrimages to his grave. Unless you're a relative or personal friend, how is it anything other than a cheezy, voyeuristic sort of death tourism?
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I've been trudging around cemeteries since I was a kid - have always been fascinated by them. It's not a tourist-type impulse, more like a combination of art history, architecture, and a feeling of peace and calm that draws me to such sites. You might call it morbid, or voyeuristic, but I think it's not a "cheezy" thing to want to document such sites for posterity.
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Cemetaries are cool. Gore Vidal's put it in his will to be buried in Rock Creek Cemetary next to his longtime partner.
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Actually, Mr. T, after I posted my hasty comment I clicked over to your Flickr account and saw that the Russert pictures were taken in the context of a general photo visit to the cemetery and they made a lot more sense. Whether the whole tradition of viewing cemeteries as cool artistic playgrounds is a little bit bizarre would be a whole different debate, but the pictures make a lot more sense in that light.
I would point out that my use of the word "cheezy" didn't relate to the basic idea of taking pictures in a cemetery, but specifically to taking and posting pictures of a celebrity's very fresh grave. I think it's interesting that the Russert images were the ones chosen to upload to the DCist pool even though some of the other cemetery pictures were more visually striking images, and I think that's due to the "celebrity reporting" element of the Russert pics. It's far less intrusive/obnoxious/inappropriate/whatever to go around to a recently dead person's grave and take pictures than it is to follow celebrities around and harrass them with cameras all day like the paparazzi do ... but it's a related activity, in my opinion.
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No offense taken, thanks Nate. I've actually got some more artistic photos I'll be uploading to Flickr tonight, and adding to the DCist pool, so you might enjoy those. In the 19th century, people viewed cemeteries as parks, and would regularly picnic in them and enjoy the greenery and sculpture, so hopefully in that context my cemetery photowalks are unintrusive and I never leave any messes behind. I try to pick up trash and report graffiti and vandalism when I come across it. Sure, sometimes I do seek out deceased famous people, but in Russert's case, I figured by now they'd have a permanent marker in place and have put some sod down on the grave. I was a bit shocked to find it so fresh looking, and you'll note none of my other photos feature such recent graves. I happened to have a day off, otherwise I would have waited longer.
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NPR did a great piece on the mothers of Iraq war dead, all buried in Section 60 in Arlington National Cemetery. Grandpa Monkey's buried near there. He fought in the Nicaraguan insurrection in the 1930s against Augusto Sandino and his band of gorillas, all of whom were paid in bananas.