Nothing profound to write about today … but I did enjoy a beautiful day at Oakwood Cemetery and the Duke University campus.  Here’s some shots for your viewing pleasure.

Wade Edwards - the son of presidential candidate John Edwards - is buried at Oakwood Cemetery.  Regardless of your politics, it is a shame that Wade lost his life at the young age of 16.  The sculpture marking his gravesite is huge; at least ten feet tall.  It wasn’t hard to “get low” and silhouette this shot with the sun behind the adjacent cloud.

Recall my earlier post about Jim Valvano.  I stumbled across his grave - literally - while I was traipsing around Oakwood.  Someone thoughtfully left a Duke basketball parking pass on his grave … and I wanted to subtly work this into the shot.  I think this photo works … what do you think?

I admit - I have a hard time with the military sections of graveyards.  The sun was still low enough in the sky to cast long shadows, and I continued my experiments with silhouettes.  I really like the way the sun shines through the flag here; maybe there’s even some metaphors in this that I won’t explore right this second.

I don’t know Walter Caswell Lewis.  Two things caught my eye about his stone, though.  First is the name “Caswell” - the surname of North Carolina’s first governor.  The other thing was the mention of the purple heart.  I had no idea what this meant, but it sounded cool … and the Wiki page I linked to explains it.  Again - I think the shadow works nicely in this shot. (editor’s note: it was only after I posted this that I realized the name on this stone is spelled CaRswell - definitely not the same as Caswell.  But what the hell - it’s still a nice shot.)

Fallout shelters are another thing I had to lookup.  This must be some sort of creepy reminder of the Cold War, and I’d probably rather it come down.  Honestly, if a nuke falls near here, an old brick building that was built during the Hoover administration will not be the first place I run to.

No photography trip in the triangle would be complete without a few brownies from Duke University.  My first stop was the chapel, where I attempted to do some justice to shot that didn’t work out so well the last time.  This is one of those rare shots where the shadows just “work” - and I can attribute it mostly to luck.

These spires contrast brilliantly against the blue sky.  I don’t recall which building they were on; somewhere, perhaps, between the chapel and the athletic complex.  And it’s these details that make Duke such a wonderful place to photograph.  I can’t imagine that all of these architectural oddities were planned entirely, and I’d like to imagine that some brilliant architects wandered around the university and randomly added these touches as construction took place.

I won’t even attempt to pronounce his last name … but he’s an important coach at Duke.  And this is where students are camped out for basketball tickets that go on sale in March.  Yes, you read correctly - they are camped out now (January 28th) for tickets that go on sale in March.  Insane, or the pinnacle of college foolery?  You be the judge.

Alas, the tired photographer and his faithful companion.

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Posted in Blog
Written on Sun, 27 January 2008 at 7:14 pm
Tags: Duke, Durham, Jimmy V, Oakwood, photography, Raleigh
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