The pictures shown on the right are the winners and runners-up in this year’s ‘Dead Art’ photo competition run by the Memorial Awareness Board (MAB) to promote stone memorialisation.

Each entry has to comprise two photographs, one showing an old memorial, the other a new one. The top two photographs here were taken by winner Jeane Trend-Hill and the bottom two by runner-up Robin Bath.

This year the judges chose 10 of the entries from the original 200 to put on MAB’s new website (rememberforever.org.uk) so that visitors to the site could vote for their favourites.

The vote was close, but in the end it was Jeane Trend-Hill from Basildon in Essex who received most. Her prize of £1,000 was given by StoneGuard, the specialist stone memorial insurance company.

Brent Stevenson, a MAB member, says: “We run this photography competition each year to encourage people to visit cemeteries and discover the impressive range of stone memorials that can be found across the country.

"Stone memorials are a long lasting way to remember a loved one, ensuring their memory lasts for generations to come.

"The 'Now' photographs demonstrate what is available for bereaved families to commemorate a loved one. Modern technology allied to traditional hand skills means new memorials can produce individual, bespoke designs at acceptable prices, far less expensively than in Victorian times.”
 


Annette Etchells, Head of StoneGuard Memorial Stone Insurance, says: “We are delighted to sponsor this unique photographic competition. We work to ensure the safety of memorials. This competition highlights the importance of beauty in our society as a focus for grief throughout our island history. It also emphasises the importance of StoneGuard’s role in preserving and perpetuating our memorials.”

To see the pictures in higher resolution visit the MAB website at the address below.