Elizabeth Heyert`s best photograph: a woman finds peace before her burial
(The Guardian Culture News)

`Staff at the Harlem funeral parlour gave Daphne a chiffon scarf and lace gloves to hide her scars, bruises and needle marks´This shot of a woman called Daphne Jones was taken at a funeral parlour in Harlem, New York, on the day she was buried. Daphne´s story was tragic. She died from Aids at the age of 54, after spending much of her life as a sex worker and crack addict. Her sons had to be bussed to the funeral from prison. One of them died six months later, at the age of 22. He got into a knife fight a few weeks after leaving prison. This Harlem funeral home maintains the old-style African American Baptist tradition of elaborately dressing up bodies in preparation for what they believe to be the journey to paradise. I was deeply moved by the idea of death being an occasion for which you put on your finest. Continue reading...