Day of the Dead

To be correct, it's "All saints day" or Wszystkich Świętych. It is celebrated on the 1st of November. It's a widely celebrated day, stemming from a catholic tradition (I think). Apparently, it is celebrated differently depending upon country and faith. However, here in Poland it is celebrated with a mass, followed by the visiting and placing of candles upon graves. As Poland has quite a large catholic community, and even those that are not catholic don't object to a day off, the entering of a cemetery on this day can result in blindness unless you wear sunglasses.

There was a large and very colorful assortment of candles around the graveyard. Some graves had a great many candles, while others felt  neglected. We purchased a candle (mostly as a source of light since it was night time) and placed it at the soldier's memorial when we were finished.

This grave was clearly popular. It had many candles on and around it, but what's more spectacular, is the bowl on the grave that had a very large and impressive flame roaring out of it. Someone was greatly loved.

Without a doubt, the soldier's memorial was the most popular. Hundreds of candles and a lot of people paying their respects. Interestingly, the pope's memorial just opposite it had less than 20.

A (not very wide angle) shot of the graveyard. It was interesting that, while it was a graveyard - which typically are rather creepy at night - was actually quite pleasant. The weather was reasonably good, too!

Whether religious or not, many people have lost someone they love or care about. With our busy lives, it's quite easy for us to not pay a lot of thought to those who've left us. For that reason, I suppose such a celebration can be a nice way to remember the past. Good money for the candle and flower sellers too...

Out of respect and for the fact I was one of only a very few who had a camera with me, I didn't want to run around snapping like a madman in various angles, playing around with exposure settings, stabbing my tripod over some grave to get a cracker. I was fairly disappointed with my shots from a technical standpoint, but they will serve well as memories.