entry smash 446: a shadow in the graveyard

in old towns throughout europe it is typical that the churches have a connected cemetery or as it properly called a churchyard or graveyard providing for burials on sacred ground. in our town with the church from the 1700s, the graveyard though small is still in use for families historically connected to it. the back wall of the church has an outdoor faucet supplying water for the caretaking of the graves. the original structure was a hand operated water pump connected to the nearby deep well supplying water to the the town with similar but more elaborate pumps in the park. parts of the original churchyard pump are still in place though now the water is sourced from the municipal network. while i could go on about the history of the church and the town's water system, i shall refrain and stick to the matter at hand- shadows

a modern faucet with the plastic pipe channelled through the original hand pump and a plastic watering can now serve the function of providing water to those taking care of the graves, be it family members or the groundskeeper.

of particular interest is the original rococo spout designed as a fish with an open wide mouth. In addition to fish to being a Christian symbol, the church was built in connection to the naval base so the maritime symbol was an obvious choice. beyond the symbolic aspect, the wide mouthed spout was specifically designed to direct the flow of water downward to fill buckets underneath without splashing

as it so happened when i was at the churchyard taking these shots the sun vanished behind a cloud causing the shadow to fade almost to the point of ceasing to exist. the symbolism was unmistakably poignant