Churches & Cemeteries series 4

The Trinidad Aesthetic - Time and Decay

Over the the years thebookmann has been interested in the themes of time and decay. He has traveled all over Trinidad and Tobago amassing photographs from cemeteries. It has been solitary and grimy work. It has wrought personal views on life and death, but also on traditions and rituals. He has asked aloud many times, what is happening with the preservation of our monuments? I have been fortunate to travel with him to a few places and seen first hand the sort of work involved. It takes a keen eye to not just take images of tombs, but of the personality behind the architecture. He lets us see the love and care of the living, as some family members leave photographs, write the family name in paint, leave plastic flowers, candles and incense.

Our cemeteries are historical documents. We can see areas that once were restricted to families of the highest classes. Areas where the Jews fleeing Nazi Germany are buried, the many orders of priest and nuns, new names of families who have come up in the world in a generation or two side by side with those who have gone down or remained in stasis.- Adele

These photographs mark ten years since the idea of the Trinidad Aesthetic. It began with documenting churches and cemeteries such as the Anglican Trinity Cathedral, the Holy Rosary and Laperose cemetery in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. It has been an adventure in its self, and for example, at the time the mausoleum (centre) was photographed, howls and wailing sounds from the dilapidated crypt could be heard. thebookmann and Adele were not going to further investigate the source, we just wanted to leave as quickly as possible, until a large man unearthed himself from it. But to our horror, the same man, much later entered a food court in Port of Spain and calmly ordered a meal and drink, needless to say, we have never ventured back to the eatery since. How Trinidad Aesthetic -thebookman