MEMENTO MORI+ DAVID DUNNICOII

# Memento Mori is not about the livingbeing ‘haunted’ by the spirits of deadpeople. Rather, the work looks at howpeople remember those they have lostand how in a sense, the dead continue tohave an existence through the remem-brance of the living. # For a number of years Dunnico haspictured statues, and funerary monu-ments. He visited Paris to photographthe famous Père-Lachaise cemetery

which was celebrating it’s 200thanniversary. He has also producedimages for this series in Barcelona, Kiev,Prague and Washington.# In 2007, Weaste Cemetery the firstand largest of Salford City Council’sfour municipal cemeteries, celebrated its150th anniversary. To mark thisanniversary, Salford Museum and ArtGallery asked David to photographSalford’s cemeteries for this exhibition.

# Thomas Lynch the American poetand undertaker wrote in his book‘Bodies in Motion and at Rest’ (pub-lished by Johnathan Cape, 2000):“The facts of life and death remain thesame. We live and die, we love andgrieve, we breed and disappear. And between these existential gravities,we search for meaning, save our memo-ries, leave a record for those whoremember us”.

SALFORD MUSEUM&ART GALLERY* Montage of spires from Salford’s four municipal cemeteries

MEMENTO MORI (a Latin phrase meaning ‘remember you must die’) is a series of photographs byDavid Dunnico. Using contemporary photographic processes, Memento Mori looks at theVictorian romantic vision of loss, grief and mourning, with its rich and clearly defined symbolism.

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* Montage of figures and tombs from Père Lachaise

FOR THOSE WE LEAVE BEHINDIV

# Traditionally people were buried inchurchyards, but by the 19th Centurythese had become overcrowded andunsanitary. In Paris, Père-Lachaisecemetery opened in 1804 and directlyinspired other purpose built gardencemeteries such as London’s KensalGreen in 1833 and Highgate six yearslater. Private companies ran these ascommercial ventures. Soon after,municipal cemeteries such as those builtby Salford Corporation were founded. # It could be argued that this physicalchange – the remains of the dead wereseparated from church – helped a philo-sophical change. People became lesscertain of the dead rising and living onin heaven, or for that matter enduringeternal suffering in hell. Instead deathbecame a ‘rest’, an ‘eternal sleep’ or ‘arelief ’, as the inscriptions on some ofthe grave stones at Weaste have it.

# Ronnie Scott writes in his 2005 bookabout the Glasgow Necropolis ‘Deathby Design’ (Black & White Publishing):“…Victorian cemeteries were designedto make the living experience particularemotions to provoke certain philosophi-cal or religious thoughts… They reflect-ed the values and the cultures of the living and not the dead”.# The Victorians had a strict protocolfor death and mourning. Today, in ourmore secular times, the rites prescribedby religion no longer give a structure tohow the dead should be laid to rest andremembered. Since 1968 there havebeen more cremations than burials inBritain – the 100th crematorium in thecountry was opened in Salford in 1957– often there is no grave to act as amemorial to the dead. Instead benches,bushes and even balloons take the placeof a grave, a stone or an inscription.

# New rituals and protocols have devel-oped. Funeral services have becomememorial services, remembering the lifeof the person who has died. Prayers andhymns have been replaced by music thatperhaps has more meaning to those whomourn. Once certain flowers (poppiesfor sleep, lilies for purity), or symbolssuch as a broken column for a life cutshort, were universally understood.# Now symbolism such as emblems offootball teams or even depictions offavourite cars and possessions can beseen on gravestones. The rituals changebut the human needs that gave rise tothem remain the same. In the past thosewho were ‘left behind’ were comfortedwith the thought that the dead had goneto a better place, today people gain sol-ace by the idea that whilst the dead areremembered, their influence continuesand their lives still have some meaning.

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* Left: Tomb of Oscar Wilde at Père Lachaise, Paris. The marks are lipstick kisses. There is a sign asking fans to respect his memory and not touch the stone

* Right: Public grave stone at Agecroft Cemetery in Salford. Note it does not have any names inscribed

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* Three of the life size figures at Père LachaiseThe backgrounds on the first two are montages

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* From left to right:Dancer, Kiev Uraine Hand, sculpture park, Washington USABoy, Manchester UK

These were some of the first imagesDunnico took in this series. In particularthe image of the young boy inspiredmost of the photographs which fol-lowed. David said: “I know nothingabout him other than he was a youngboy named Terrence. I think he mayhave died in the 1950s and I believe thebust was later stolen”.

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* Top: Angel outside of the Neucamp football stadium in Barcelona

* Above: A montage featuring The Angel of the North by Anthony Gormley

Some symbols remain potent. Angels are supernatural beings found in many religions –intermediaries between god and humans. In Christian cemeteries they are usually depictedas winged women in flowing robes, looking or pointing upwards, ready to escort the deadto heaven. Today, few believe in their literal existence, but the enduring popularity of angelsas characters in film and art, shows they still have a resonance for many people.

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* Above: Detail of gravestone ornament, Weaste

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* Portrait busts Père Lachaise, Paris

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* Portrait bust Père Lachaise, Paris

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* Montage

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* Top: Peel Green Cemetery, Salford

* Above: Weaste

* Right: Weaste

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* Left: Public grave, Agecroft Cemetery, Salford Right: Angel and aeroplane, Weaste

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* Crosses from the four Salford Cemeteries

BIOGRAPHY+CREDITS&TECHNICALXIX

# I would like to thank everyone whohas helped me with this work and dedi-cate it to my partner Sara Smith.# Particular thanks go to the staff ofSalford Museum and Art Gallery,Salford council workers and the Friendsof the Salford Cemeteries.# Nigel Player and Elaine Parry fromHarman Technology.# From Olympus UK I would like tothank Mark Thackara, Richard Longand others for the practical and finan-cial support which has made the pro-duction of this booklet possible.

# You can see more of David’s workand contact him at:

www.dunni.co.uk

# There is also a short film called‘Duppies’ (a West Indian word for‘ghost’) which forms part of this work.You can see it at the exhibition web site:

www.mourn.me.uk

* The exhibition received funding from:

# All the photographs were taken usingOlympus cameras and lenses includingOM1n film cameras, CS5060 digitalcompact and E-1 and E400 dSLR.The images were processed using AppleAperture and Adobe PhotoShop.

* Produced with Salford Museum and Art Gallery

* Text and design by David Dunnico

* Printed by Trinity Press, Salford* Booklet and exhition sponsored by:

DAVID DUNNICO was born in 1964 in Manchester where he still lives. He works on hisown long term projects and his photographs have been widely published. His work haspreviously been seen at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Imperial War Museum Northand the Jewish Museum of London. Memento Mori is his first solo gallery exhibition.

* Above: Panorama of Weaste Cemetery

Memento Mori (a Latin phrase meaning ‘remember you must die’) is a series ofphotographs by David Dunnico.

Using contemporary photographic processes, the work looks at the Victorian romantic vision of loss, grief and mourning, with its rich andclearly defined symbolism.

www.mourn.me.uk www.dunni.co.uk

* Front Cover: Statues of saints on the Charles Bridge, Prague Back Cover: Weaste Cemetery, Salford

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