DAVID WRIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY

THE ENGLISH WAY OF DEATH 

The coffin maker

The carpenter


Bending the side and securing it



Nailing on the ornamental trim



Selecting a lid


Varnishing the coffin

Putting the finished coffin into store

Transport

The stonemasons

The Mortuary


The Mortician



The hair washing equipment


Preparing the coffin


Placing the shroud over the body


Closing the coffin with wooden pegs

A Lockdown funeral


Saying goodbye





The gravediggers





Entering the graveyard





Social distancing





The choir of two people





The final journey





Into the ground




Last glimpse of daylight





Farewell my love




Saying goodbye to Great Grandad






...and all that remains back home



The Cremation Process


In front of the curtain



Behind the curtain


Lighting the furnace



Pushing the coffin into the furnace



Cremation



Removing metal such as pacemakers, replacement hips and nails


Pouring the ashes into the Cremulator



The remains



Interment

Parting company



This is such a painful set of pictures that I am unable to show them at the moment and maybe they will not be seen for many years into the future. They tell the story of the final weeks my mum spent on this earth. Every time I see the pictures I find I am being taken back to that sad period from when mum went into hospital, attempts to get her home, the arguments with hospital staff because she was not being cared for properly to the day I received the call saying she had gone and then the mortuary and the funeral. I documented many of these moments. I have no idea why. Maybe it was to come to terms with our parting.

Clearing Mum's House




Sorting stuff to keep




The House Clearers

It's just a job for them




A lifetime of things




House clearing is basically

taking it all to the dump




Ghosts


Dismantling and dumping

Mum's reclining chair


Echoes of my past





Some keepsakes to remind us




After the 5 hour drive

back to our house



Share by: