Happily, No Photos
I went to a police officer’s funeral this week. Columbus Police Officer Andrew Mott died in a crash in Delaware while going home after work. The funeral was at Oasis City Church in Westerville where Mott played bass in the church worship team.
When I arrived the surrounding parking lots were full. I parked some distance away and walked to the entrance of the church where a Columbus police officer told me something that I prefer to hear at funerals.
“The family asks no media in the church.”
I was happy to oblige. That simplifies everything.
I’ve spent a career making photographs at church services and funerals. Sometimes it’s people of note. Sometimes first responders. Sometimes the families of people who have been news stories.
One of the most significant series of funerals I covered was the murders of young boys in Atlanta from 1979 to 1981. My schedule was modified so I could work weekends to photograph searches for missing kids or to cover the funerals of the ones found. The murders were international news bringing an army of reporters and photographers to the city.
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