In the month of October 1995 we embarked on a photographic evolutionary process which still continues today. Our first photographs (done with a 10 shot instant camera) are admittedly raw and very face-value. One can see the original version of the Expansion Rune, its points crossing in the center of the pentagram, and its arms yet rather crude. A lack of props, equipment and experience permeate them... yet, the winds were beginning to blow, and that cold October night would be the stepping stone of many more to come. We never expected then that these shots would ever be published, as they were little more than rehearsals, done with virtually no preparation or planning. Nor did we anticipate the great interest by our readers for them to be published. And until this printing only those within our small circle have ever laid eyes on them. But, nonetheless, we feel them to be a piece in the ever-growing puzzle which is Mourning the Ancient.
      Through twenty series of shoots, you will witness a constant effort to express our shared visions in a visual, although often abstract, form. This volume is comprised of 526 pictures out of virtually thousands. Quite a few of which were done only for the purpose of testing props, imagery, poses and/or cameras. There does exist photos from shoots unpublished in this volume, but have been omitted or left out for various reasons, which will remain unpublished probably indefinitely.
      The meanings behind this volume of photography are many and multi-faceted, as they are purposefully sometimes obscured. We incorporate our true feelings into our work, and we believe this shows in its sincerity above all else, it is most important to us, and it is what has fueled us since day one. Mourning the Ancient is an artistic vent to those individuals involved, but even more, it is an outlet and symbol of our rage. A sorrowful hatred for a world worn of its splendor, void of its past grandeur, but desperately clinging to its fading life. Yet, for as long as man has the sense to question his surroundings, for as long as he gazes to the darkening heavens with the will to transcend his own decay, as long as the spark within the cavities of his mortal frame yet burns, he will long for the perilous truth, he will remember yesterday and find it worthier than today... as his life and his freedoms waste away with each passing dusk, he will scorn his future as a prisoner, and desperately mourn yesterday.

     

  • The material found on this disk was derived from instant cameras, 35mm, stills from 8mm camcorders and digital cameras.

         

  • Music tracks by Mourning the Ancient and B.A....

         

  • Poetic quotations taken from the poetry of Mourning the Ancient...