Freeport photographer captures art in cemeteries

Freeport photographer Michael Tucciarone’s work can only be described as phantasmagoric and ethereal. He calls it “Dead Art” — startling black-and-white photos shot in cemeteries around New York and the country.

He creates them the old-fashioned way — in a home dark room, printed with chemicals on photo paper.

Throughout April, he exhibited his startling work at the Freeport Recreation Center, in a show sponsored by the Long Island Arts Council at Freeport. Truly, the landscapes that he captures remind one of a scene from an Edgar Allan Poe short story.

Photography “is kind of a solace to me,” said Turrciarone, who has been a Freeport resident for more than 30 years and who works in the heating and air-conditioning industry in New York City. “I get away from everything, get to be myself and take pictures. It’ quiet time for me.”

Before taking pictures in cemeteries, Tucciarone photographed weddings. For six years, from 1985 to 1991, he was juggling a full-time job in the heating and air-conditioning field, raising a family, and on the weekends jumping from wedding to wedding. By 1991, he put his camera away and decided to focus on taking care of his family. For 19 years, he only picked up the camera sporadically to capture family memories. Only in the last seven years did Tucciarone return to photography in earnest, but this time he wanted to capture images that inspired him. His adventures have taken him to Brooklyn, Williamsburg, Va., and beyond.

Tucciarone cannot explain precisely why he photographs cemeteries. He only says that he will end up in one someday.

“I have a lot of leading lines in my photographs,” he said. “I may have a walkway with headstones and a tree that has no leaves on it, kinda an ominous tree. For me, photography is a feeling [more] than anything else. I see something that strikes a chord with me, and I take the picture … It’s an emotional thing for me.”

He now spends close to 20 hours a week on his photography. He does not limit himself to cemeteries, but even on vacations with his wife, he might venture to one to snap images. Several of his photographs have been featured in magazines and books like “Photographer’s Forum: Best Photography” — in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Though the exhibit at the Freeport Recreation Center is over, Tucciarone will continue to take pictures and share them with anyone who is interested in seeing his work. In June, he plans to participate in the Juried Photo Exhibit at the Freeport Memorial Library.

“Who knows what’s down the road?” he said. “I guess I am open to anything. I just do it for loving what I do.”