Archive All Issues October 2012

WHERE THE BODIES ARE BURIED

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It''s October. The time of year when sweatshirts replace T-shirts, when pumpkins go on sale, and when little ghosts and goblins gear up to go trick-or-treating. In the spirit of the season, we sent one of our most ambitious photographers on a grave pursuit. Literally. His mission: to photograph cemeteries in every county of the state. Two thousand, six hundred and seventy-six miles later, mission accomplished.

Featured in the October 2012 Issue of Arizona Highways

BY: Mark Lipczynski

A PORTFOLIO BY MARK LIPCZYNSKI

WHERE THE BODIES ARE BURIED

BONEYARDS, ARIZONA. EVERGREEN CEMETERY

Location: Bisbee

County: Cochise

Year Established: 1912

PINE CEMETERY

Location: Pine

County: Gila

Year Established: 1881

YUMA TERRITORIAL PRISON CEMETERY

Location: Yuma County: Yuma Year Established: 1876 “The Yuma Territorial Prison Cemetery was my favorite, and I saved it for last because I really wanted to spend some time there,” Lipczynski says. “I also wanted to shoot it after dark. It’s the only cemetery I photographed after dark. When I first read about this place, it made me sad to think that the people buried there probably had very lonely and empty lives that ended in lonely, unmarked graves. I say it was my favorite because, for me, it had the most powerful energy.”

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WHERE THE BODIES ARE BURIED

SANDY CEMETERY

Location: near Wikieup

County: Mohave

Year Established: 1890 "This was a tough one," Lipczynski says. "I spent close to two hours driving on primitive dirt roads, trying to find another cemetery. I stopped to get gas and asked the clerk where to find Sandy Cemetery and was promptly met with, 'Who wants to know?' I explained what I was doing, and the clerk pointed me in the right direction. I blew right past the cemetery, but finally found it. Daisy's was an old headstone that I noticed tucked under a bush. I don't know what kind of bush it was, but I liked how the branches enveloped the headstone and the way the colors turned out in the final shot."

PINEDALE CEMETERY

Location: Pinedale County: Navajo Year Established: 1888 "One of the things I noticed about the cemeteries I photographed is that many of the graves were being reclaimed by the earth," Lipczynski says. "I took that to mean that no surviving relatives were around to maintain the graves, leaving them to decay and soon be forgotten. This lonesome, deteriorating bench left out in the elements in the Pinedale Cemetery was a symbol of that lonely and forgotten fate."

SOLOMON CEMETERY

Location: Solomon County: Graham Year Established: 1870s "I loved this cemetery," Lipczynski says. "It was so serene, peaceful and beautiful. I journaled about it after I visited, because it touched me deeply. The sun was setting, and there were a lot of busy birds flying in, resting for a moment, then going off again. I watched one in particular dive down below the horizon of the mesa, then come back up and hover overhead before going back down. I wanted to get it into the shot. I made several unsuccessful attempts; then, as I was getting ready to leave, all the pieces lined up, and the bird flew overhead in just the right spot."

WHERE THE BODIES ARE BURIED WENDEN CEMETERY

Location: Wenden

County: La Paz

Year Established: 1916 "I don't know the technical term for the grave pictured here, but I had never seen one like it before," Lipczynski says. "It was unique to me, so I honed right in on it. The rest of the cemetery was flat, dusty and just baking in the sun. One end of the cemetery backed up to someone's residence. That was a challenge, because I wanted all the cemeteries to be void of any signs of modern life."

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CROWN KING MAIN CEMETERY

Location: Crown king County: Yavapai Year Established: circa 1898 "When I found this cemetery, it was already late in the day, and the sun was getting into a low position, with about four hours before it set," Lipczynski says. "I didn't have to wait long before I got this shot. I just kept shooting everything around me that looked interesting. I remember it was very buggy there. Flies were buzzing around me wherever I went, and there were a lot of ants. That was a little disconcerting to me."

CALABASAS CEMETERY

Location: Nogales County: Santa Cruz Year Established: 1756 "I had a film camera with tungsten-balanced film in it when I arrived at the Nogales Cemetery," Lipczynski says. "I knew that the tungsten film would give a bluish hue to the shots made in the daylight. So, to match, I converted my digital images to have the same or similar color cast as the film exposures. It would have worked if I had processed the film on time. I should mention that there was a decapitated chicken in a plastic bag sitting on the ground just under the arch that greets visitors to this cemetery. It was very disturbing."

WHERE THE BODIES ARE BURIED WILLIAMS CEMETERY (MOUNTAIN VIEW)

Location: Williams County: Coconino Year Established: 1845 "The Williams Cemetery is where my digital camera started acting wonky," Lipczynski says. "I was struggling to find something unique at this location. I had driven around the worn paths that navigate this cemetery, trying to come up with creative solutions. Here, I used a filter to reflect objects behind me into the lens while the camera was pointed forward, focused on the statue. So, the treetops you see to the left of the statue are actually a reflection of trees and sky behind me."

SHELDON CEMETERY

Location: Sheldon County: Greenlee Year Established: 1915 "As I was leaving this cemetery, I noticed the monument rising above almost everything around it, making it a strong focal point," Lipczynski says. "I stopped my car and got out so I could get low to the ground to emphasize the monument even more. I set the camera on the ground to include the sun, and dialed my aperture down to f/22 to make the sunburst."

ALPINE CITY CEMETERY

Location: Alpine County: Apache Year Established: 1871

WHERE THE BODIES ARE BURIED CAMELBACK CEMETERY

Location: Paradise Valley County: Maricopa Year Established: 1916 "I used the angel headstone in several shots that I was playing with during my time at this cemetery," Lipczynski says. "It wasn't until the sun started setting that I made a connection between the angel on the headstone and the light on the distant house. The scene is symbolic of an angel moving toward the light, the light being a representation of heaven or God or afterlife."

TANQUE VERDE RANCH CEMETERY

Location: Tucson County: Pima Year Established: 1868 "This cemetery was very small and very old," Lipczynski says. "The two crosses side by side make a great focal point, and the landscape behind it really makes it feel isolated - like it's far removed from civilization. It's the sort of place that might show up in an old Western movie."

ORACLE CEMETERY

Location: Oracle

County: Pinal

Year Established: 1904 "The Oracle Cemetery is really a neat place because there are actually levels of burials on the grounds, and there are primitive staircases for people to use to get to the different levels," Lipczynski says. "The thing that drew me to this spot is that gnarly looking tree. I wanted to incorporate that into a shot and, luckily, the headstones are situated in a spot that makes for a balanced composition." AH

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