The Staglieno cemetery near Genoa was created in the 19th century. It is home not only to those whose bones lie buried beneath, but also to the ornate display of sculptures erected in their memory. Carved from stone, these memorials have become more than the monumental tributes they were originally commissioned to be. Now feathered with a gentle coat of dust, each appears to have taken on a life of its own and out of the melancholy of death comes the comforting notion of a presence that will remain.

Lothar Osterburg’s highly refined photogravures are the perfect print medium for these emotive images of soot, stone and memory.