Philly On Film! - Volume 1 - Mt. Moriah Cemetery

Hello! Welcome to Philly on Film!, a semi-weekly exploration of the strange corners, hidden retreats, vibrant neighborhoods, and busy streets of Philadelphia. Every week(ish), I'll be making my way to some destination in the city I call home, along with my friend Rish, with the aim of improving our film photography and getting to know this place more intimately. I'll do my best to include some history and information on wherever it is we end up, sharing my thoughts and pictures along the way. I hope you enjoy!

Mt. Moriah is an odd place. It rests in the deep southwest corner of the city, intersected by Cobbs Creek and providing a natural sort of border between Philly and Yeadon. You can get there on the 13 trolley, but I live close enough to walk. Rish and I headed out on foot, which is about a 20 minute journey through nothing but concrete and rowhomes.

It was a dismal sort of day, overcast and cold, carrying on a trend in the weather that had been hanging around for a week or so. Winters here can be a drag. There's not a lot of snow, but it's gray and windy and bare for months on end. Seasonal depression tends to hit me pretty hard around this time of year, making it difficult to feel creative or inspired or, y'know, happy. But as we finally came upon the cemetery, something changed.

The clouds blew away in a clean line across the sky, revealing a crisp blue expanse that brought with it warm air and a better mood. Mt. Moriah was incorporated in 1855, spanning 200 acres and housing many small burial lots within its gates, including two military sections. Today, much of the cemetery has been reclaimed by nature, with large swathes of the property completely overgrown and wooded. The last surviving member of its governing body, The Mount Moriah Cemetery Association, passed away in 2004, leaving behind no clear path for the cemetery's future. Since that time, it has remained in a bureaucratic stand-still, lying dormant, deteriorating in its slow and quiet way while the city determines who is responsible for its maintenance.

I've been to Mt. Moriah three previous times, and each time I've tried to photograph it, something has gone wrong. On my first trip, the camera I'd brought with me (a Yashica FX-3 Program) died upon entry. The shutter stopped firing, and despite a week's worth of troubleshooting efforts, I couldn't get it working again. The second time, I was transitioning from shooting mostly automatic to a more manual approach, and accidentally left my camera on a single shutter speed, underexposing almost every shot. The third was after a heavy snowfall, and I was hoping to capture some snowy landscapes. Whether by my own lack of understanding of photographing snow, or, as I half-heartedly believe, Mt. Moriah's unwillingness to be photographed, severe overexposure made the images un-useable.

It was only on this most recent excursion that I was able to get some really nice pictures. There's a feeling there that I can't quite explain, it's sort of peaceful and sort of heavy. It's like the cemetery is in a state of rest, happy to be undisturbed and left alone. Some small part of me wonders whether it didn't have something to do with all of my mishaps. Probably I'm just not a very good photographer. But you never know. There are other strange things about this place. This tree, standing at the edge of a circular burial plot dedicated to the Freemasons, is completely out of place among the local flora. Every time I pass it, it makes me wonder. How long has it been here? Who planted it? Why?

Sometime into our exploration, Rish and I paused to change film and reflect. We hadn't spoken much. I think we were both feeling the peace of the location, enjoying the warmth and the quiet. I was shooting Ilford FP4+ (a medium speed black & white film) in my Yashica FX-D and Kodak Gold 200 (a medium speed color film) in my Icarex 35 CS. Both cameras are 35mm. Rish was shooting Kodak Tri-X (b&w) in his medium-format Mamiya C330 and Kodak Portra (color) in his Minolta.

Crossing Cobbs Creek Parkway, we made our way to the Naval Plot. The two military plots in the cemetery are home to the remains of servicemen dating back to the American Civil War (some say even the Revolutionary War), and are also the most well-kept plots on the property. They are maintained by federal money, standing stark and clean against the messy and unkempt backdrop.

While I changed around some lenses, Rish walked among a group of nearby graves. This area is one of my favorite spots in Mt. Moriah. It is large and open, but surrounded by tall trees that give it an air of seclusion rarely felt within city limits.

Eventually, we got hungry, and decided our pilgrimage to this big, quiet, lovely place would have to come to an end. Although its fate remains uncertain, I am grateful for the existence of Mt. Moriah cemetery, in whatever shape or form. It is a welcome respite from the constant noise, distraction, and anxiety of city life, and I hope it remains in its slumber for years to come.

**Color pictures were taken on Kodak Gold 200 film with an Icarex 35 CS 35mm camera. Black and white pictures were taken on Ilford FP4+ film with a Yashica FX-D 35mm camera. All pictures were developed at home. Information on the history of Mt. Moriah cemetery was gathered from friendsofmountmoriahcemetery.org. If you enjoyed this post, feel free to check back in for more soon!