‘Halottak Napja’ ‘the day of the dead’ or ‘the day of remembrance’

Cemeteries are not really public places like streets or parks. Graves are private places a family has purchased or rented. And thus should be respected as such.

I would not take photos of people visiting their relative's graves. Taking pictures of the cemetery itself, if done, should be generic, discrete and respectful; such as not taking pictures of the deceased person's name on any monument unless they are a relative.

yes i understand that we have decided against it this is the reason i asked here firt thank you

You might want to go late, with camera stowed, and get it out after everyone has left and all that's left is candles.

klsallee wrote:

Cemeteries are not really public places like streets or parks. Graves are private places a family has purchased or rented. And thus should be respected as such.
...

I think this is overdoing it.

The very large cemetery in Budapest is a place people often go for a walk in and they do take photos of their relatives graves for their own use and others just because they are ornate.

Some sites are actually tourists attractions - famous people etc. Same goes in other countries - Highgate Cemetery in North London (which has Karl Marx).

No-one knows why you are there, so personally I would not overdo it by saying you shouldn't discretely take photos or visit to see the experience. I'll be out this evening with my Hungarian family and I will be taking my camera.

Just a personal opinion:I'm a sea captain and feel that we came from the sea,that is where we shall return.also free up a lot of realestate

capttamas wrote:

Just a personal opinion:I'm a sea captain and feel that we came from the sea,that is where we shall return...

I like that idea of being returned to the sea.

As I am British, and a former member of the Armed Services (military) and a foreigner in Hungary, I also think about Rupert Brooke's poem, "The Soldier".

Because it's November, this is an apt time to remind people of Remembrance Sunday on the 2nd Sunday of November (the Sunday closest to 11th November) which this year, is actually the 11th November.  Near Budapest, in Solymar is the Commonwealth War Cemetery and every year there is a small ceremony to remember all the fallen of wars past. It starts at 10.45 and is usually attended by the Ambassadors of Commonwealth countries (British, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, South Africa etc). The 11am time is important. The cemetery is near the Auchan supermarket. Details here: Remembrance Sunday - Solymar

And here's Rupert Brooke's poem, the first lines of which are known to just about everyone in the UK with an interest or experience of the military:

"If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven"

fluffy2560 wrote:

No-one knows why you are there

You don't live in a tiny village do you? Everyone knows everyone's business in mine. And better to tell them outright, else what they make up to gossip about would be worse.

fluffy2560 wrote:

I would not overdo it by saying you shouldn't discretely take photos or visit to see the experience.

I think you miss-understood what I wrote: I never said you should't visit a cemetery on "All Saints Day", nor did I say you should't discretely take photos.

Again: if you take photos to simply make them "generic, discrete and respectful"; which I thought was pretty clearly understood to mean to not over do it by getting in people's real reason for All Saints Day and of visiting a relative's graves.

In other words, if you go, and if you take photos, just be aware of where you are, and show some respect while there. If you want an example, look in the Hungarian newspapers on Nov 1, which had photos of cemeteries, and they were as I said above, discrete and respectful. Simply copy that format.

fluffy2560 wrote:

The very large cemetery in Budapest is a place people often go for a walk in

Simply because cemeteries have foot paths, and are frequented by people who stroll along the paths, does not really make the cemetery land's private plots public places, any more than your house is a public place just because people walk by on the street in front. And while people can take photos of your house from the street, people put up fences to prevent it. Just as there are sometimes invisible social and cultural fences about taking pictures of other people's graves. Just look at it that way.

fluffy2560 wrote:

and they do take photos of their relatives graves for their own use and others just because they are ornate.

Basically, you said what I said. They take pictures of their relative's graves. And as for non-relative graves, as I said, it is okay, but simply follow some basic respectful guidelines if doing so. I never said anything else.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Some sites are actually tourists attractions - famous people etc. Same goes in other countries - Highgate Cemetery in North London (which has Karl Marx).

And in some burial places of famous people no one is allowed to take pictures at all, such as in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral (same goes in other countries).

So the point is: There are appropriate limits in all places that house the remains of the departed. I hope we can agree on that.

Finally, I did ask one local Hungarian official their opinion on this question about the local cemetery as they were preparing for All Saints Day, and the answer was basically what I wrote in my first post on this topic.

klsallee wrote:

You don't live in a tiny village do you? Everyone knows everyone's business in mine. And better to tell them outright, else what they make up to gossip about would be worse.

No, I don't but it's small enough. None of the relatives are here - live or dead - they are in a village a few Km away. I think no-one would really mind anyway. Turning up is already brownie points.

klsallee wrote:

Simply because cemeteries have foot paths, and are frequented by people who stroll along the paths, does not really make the cemetery land's private plots public places, any more than your house is a public place just because people walk by on the street in front.

I don't know about that comparison. I see cemeteries as places of contemplation as much as anything else. I doubt anyone would want to contemplate their existence (or mortality) in the street outside my place of residence.

klsallee wrote:

...And in some burial places of famous people no one is allowed to take pictures at all, such as in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral (same goes in other countries).

Yes, but that's just being fussy about it for one reason or another. All the folks in Canterbury Cathedral are long dead. Beyond any relative's memory. All long gone and therefore more about archaeology than anything else. 

klsallee wrote:

So the point is: There are appropriate limits in all places that house the remains of the departed. I hope we can agree on that.

Yes, we can.

klsallee wrote:

Finally, I did ask one local Hungarian official their opinion on this question about the local cemetery as they were preparing for All Saints Day, and the answer was basically what I wrote in my first post on this topic.

Ok

fluffy2560 wrote:

Yes, but that's just being fussy about it for one reason or another. All the folks in Canterbury Cathedral are long dead. Beyond any relative's memory. All long gone and therefore more about archaeology than anything else.

Fussy? Interesting.

I would myself say: respectful.

To some cultures the living have no time limit of respect toward their dead ancestors. And what some (western cultures) call archaeology, others call grave robbing.

Somethings to contemplate while walking alone in a cemetery at sunrise. Maybe I will see you there.

klsallee wrote:

Fussy? Interesting. I would myself say: respectful. To some cultures the living have no time limit of respect toward their dead ancestors. And what some (western cultures) call archaeology, others call grave robbing.

Well, maybe but it's Britain, not Buddhist. Anything more than a couple of hundred years old is fair game for investigation. They usually say stuff outside living memory and a bit more.

klsallee wrote:

..Somethings to contemplate while walking alone in a cemetery at sunrise. Maybe I will see you there.

I won't be there - I'll be in bed - as I'm not that involved with those who have passed.

I am however, pretty certain to be at the Remembrance Sunday ceremony in Solymar.

We decided not to go for many reasons One it was raining lol 2 it is a respectful time 3 im sure there will be far better pics around than i could take thank you all for your input its been interesting reading x

We went to the cemetery in the large nearby village of Surd. It is an impressive site after dark and although I'm not religious It does seem to me to be a good tradition which is worth preserving.