Life Amongst the Dead

They ran out of room for the dead.

The cemeteries overflowed, corpses were left in open graves, Parisians in the Les Halles neighbourhood complained about the smell of rotting flesh. And, when the rains came, the walls of Les Innocents cemetery collapsed, spilling human remains out into the neighbouring properties.

It took years for officials to move the bones of the dead from Les Innocents and other Parisian cemeteries to the network of underground tunnels that had once been a mine but now are better known as the catacombs of Paris.

This is one of many photos I took in the Catacombs; it was shot close to a light source and shows a few traces of moss and plant life growing on the bones of the dead.

I usually don't share this image; it's not the most technically sound shot I've ever taken and I have many more images from the catacombs that are more interesting to look at in terms of subject matter. At this moment, though, it seemed fitting to me to share this, even though it's essentially just B-roll from a project that I completed years ago.

I like what the image depicts more than I like the shot itself.

There is something is growing, clinging to life, miles below the earth, in almost total darkness, amongst the bones of the dead.