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Funeral Planning: Producing a
Photographic Tribute
By Trish Anderson
Planning a funeral can be complicated and wrought with
emotion. Anger, despair, depression, confusion combine
into a turbulent cocktail in the mind through which some
fairly important decisions need to be made. What type of
funeral? Religious or non-religious? Which funeral
director? Which cemetery? These are just a few of the
considerations involved.
What I'm going to look at today is one part of all that,
a tiny part to be sure, but at the same time, something
that can help ease some of the emotional strain of the
upcoming funeral.
A photographic tribute in the form of a single,
double-sided A4 program that guests can take home with
them not only helps the healing process of the immediate
family, but reaches out to friends and other family with
fond memories and emotive words.
The program can be entirely put together by the family
or an outside person such as a close friend can be
inveigled into production. Whoever does it, whether
close or paid designer, the end product will be
something to treasure.
Find the right photographs
Go through the photo albums and boxes for images that
depict your loved one doing the things that made them
happy, the things that made them "them". A contemplative
moment or two is always nice to include as well as
photos that include close family and/or friends, beloved
pets, favourite cars or boats. Choose photographs also
that cover the range of the deceased's life, a mix of
black and white, and colour shows the passage of time
clearly and adds interest to the layout.
The photographs will need to be of reasonably good
quality, not blurry or overexposed, faces in the light
rather than shadowed, but if the most emotive ones are
damaged in some way, then keep them aside. A clever
graphic artist [or digitally artistic contact] might be
able to perform a miracle or two.
Keep layout simple yet varied. If the images are
different shapes and sizes than you could turn some at
opposite angles and have large near small. If they are
similar sizes then use a pattern that flows and still
allows differentiation between the images. You want a
seamless and unjarring final layout. A block of images
all the same size will draw the eye and detract from the
other photos. Layout is important, so double-check
before having the program printed.
Background
An appropriate background will link the photographs and
should also be an image or pattern of something that
brings the deceased to mind. For instance, for an avid
fisherman, a simple image of water or an empty beach.
For someone who had regularly enjoyed the great outdoors
a transparent image of trees or an oft-used walking
track. The background image should not over-take
[visually] the photographs but be an adjunct to them, a
suitable setting for the memories the pictures evoke.
Cover
The cover can be a repetition of the inside background
or your most evocative image enlarged [it will
definitely need to be of good quality to avoid
graininess and pixelation]. Choose a pleasant,
easy-to-read font and a colour that stands out from the
background for name and years of life on the front. On
the back cover, include a few lines of a poem, a quote
or song.
Words
Although I have called this project a program, it isn't
really. It is a piece of memorabilia that you can share
with family and friends, a visual reminder of what the
deceased person's life meant to everyone they were
connected with. Of course, you could include it as part
of an overall program, especially if the funeral is a
formal affair with certain religious procedures to
follow, but that would take up far more than this one
article.
The words I'm referring to should, as will the images,
bring the deceased back to mind. It doesn't have to be
complicated or great literature. Choose either your
loved one's favourite song or poem, or a piece that
evokes that person's memory. It may be a song that can
also be played during the funeral, therefore,
strengthening the connection and the recollection of the
day as sad yet fond; a fitting tribute and farewell to
someone cared for. Keep it reasonably short however so
that you can keep the font large enough to be easily
read.
This photographic "program" will trigger the healing
process in the family, through the collection of
photographs, discussion of happy times and sharing of
amusing stories. Guests at the funeral can hold the
program in their hands and look at the pictures while
listening to speakers or music and, in so doing, also
remember happy times with the deceased.
A funeral is a time for letting go and saying goodbye,
for remembering and understanding. It is a celebration
of a life lived and of connections made, of stories and
images that enable that person to live on in the hearts
and minds of those that loved them. Your visual program
allows bridges to be crossed, happier times to be
recalled and memories to be strengthened. You and your
guests will leave the funeral, program in hand, ready to
move on knowing that you [and they] still have a
physical connection to a loved one and friend now gone.
~~~~~~~
Trish is a freelance writer with desktop publishing
[including photographic tributes], promotional material,
content sourcing, location and information research,
fiction critique and web group management skills tucked
firmly into her workbelt. To find out about rates and
other services, or to read more of her articles, visit
Trish at [http://beginningsmiddlesends.blogspot.com] or
send an email to wordcatcher@hotmail.com |
