When I travel to any particular town or city these days, I make it a point to visit their parks, cemeteries and universities. As a traveller, you can get a real sense of the history of a city when you visit these places. Often they have vibrancy and vitality of their own. And of course it’s an opportunity to photograph all these places and try to capture all the beauty I see there.
Parks are for everyone. It’s a place to take a deep breath, a place to get centered, a place to get a respite from the urban grind of a city. Major parks like Central Park in NYC and Hyde Park in London will always be travel destinations but I revel in the smaller parks and squares that reside in these cities and towns. Russell Square in the Bloomsbury section of London is a beautiful park where people have their lunch and children play in the fountains. Friends meet each other for coffee or simply pass through on their way home. I feel a connectedness when I’m there and observe those around me. Square Suzanne Buisson, in Montmartre, Paris, is a much smaller park. I felt a sense of harmony and lightness amongst the interesting plane trees and the faint sounds of everyday life seeping into the park.
In New York City, where I grew up, there are many cemeteries, such as Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. I never visited any of them, except when I went to a few actual funerals. It never crossed my mind back then that a cemetery could be a destination, that it could be so exceptional. In Rye, East Sussex, England, I came upon the Church of Saint Mary that has graveyards which seem right out of a 1950s Hollywood horror film. After all, the Church of Saint Mary dates back to the 12th century, plenty of time for headstones to be weather worn, crooked and cracked, setting the mood for a really gothic and spooky atmosphere. It wasn’t till the early 1800s, due to increased populations, that church graveyards gave way to cemeteries as we know them today and became home to some of the most beautiful and sublime headstones, sculptures and mausoleums. Cimetière du Père-Lachaise à Paris is, of course, a popular destination. I liken it to a museum spread across over 100 acres. You need a full day to see it all, maybe two. In Stevenage, UK, I had a wonderful stroll through the much more modest churchyard of St Nicholas Church which dates back over nine centuries. Next to that was the more modern Weston Rd cemetery where the cherry blossom trees were bursting and the ground was full of pink snow.
Just as the grand cemeteries and major parks are top destinations, so too are leading universities popular destinations. But you don’t have to be a Harvard or an Oxford for it to be a stop on your journey. Many universities across the globe are home to some of the most stunning and impressive architecture. I’m captivated by the juxtaposition of architecture at some of these institutions. Depending on the age of the university, you could have a Victorian style mixed with more modern styles such as art deco, mid-century and brutalist as the universities expand and grow over the years. Some of these universities are so vast they are like cities themselves. Ohio State University with a student body of over 65,000 is such a place. At over 150 years old, the campus spreads across 1,600 acres and is home to residence and learning halls, student centers, museums, theaters and sports facilities such as Ohio Stadium, which has a capacity of 100,000 people. Again even some of the smallest universities and colleges are worth a visit. The Scarritt College for Christian Education built in the 1920’s in Nashville, TN, now known as Scarritt Bennett Center, a conference retreat and education center, resides on a small but beautiful campus. I actually stayed in one of the old dorms that they offer at a nominal price through Airbnb. It’s cool to see the campus is full of students walking to their next classes or hanging out on the quad playing frisbee as it brings me back to my college days
In a way all three of these places are similar: they have a lot of greenery and well cared for grounds, and can have statuary, memorials, public artworks and impressive architecture. I think there is something profound when you look at these three places and put them together. The idea of a university as a beginning adulthood, the cemetery as the end of our journeys, and parks that encompass our entire lives, from little children on the swings to seniors gazing out on a pond, reflecting on their lives. Stroll through these wonderful places and take photographs. Find a bench or lay on the lawn. Read a novel or open up your sketch book. Have a baguette or snack on some grapes. Take some time and breath in all the surroundings.
Please enjoy some more photos of Parks, Cemeteries and Universities.
