Lithuania - Hill Of Crosses

Lithuania is a hugely historic and religious country, that is rich in culture and proud of its heritage. Since coming here it is clear to see that it is proud of its past, especially its resistance and rebellion against its several occupations, whether it is Nazi Germany during World War II or the multiple Soviet Russian occupations which have occurred over the centuries.

There are several sites throughout the country which commemorate those lost in the rebellions, but none are as well known or as celebrated as the Hill of Crosses just outside Siauliai. 

I have visited this site twice myself and have laid two of my own crosses, one to my wonderful Omi and another to my beautiful Fiancée Donna, which I am pleased to say still stand proudly on the Hill.

                      

                                   Image © Copyright Daniel Herrick 2014

Whilst talking to my colleagues out here, there doesn't seem to be much interest in visiting the fascinating site, believing it to be "too religious" or "just a mound with some crosses on", but it is oh so much more than that. I am by no means religious and see myself as an atheist, believing in science however, I do not begrudge anyone the right to religion and like to visit religious sites for their historical value and churches for their beautiful architecture, so when the oppourtunity arose for me to visit the Hill of Crosses, I took it with open arms! I had seen the sight from the air before on a flight back from Naujoji Akmene and it looked very sparse, so when I turned up at the sight and saw the sheer number of crosses, it blew me away! It is believed to hold some 200,000 plus crosses, but it seems so many more with smaller ones being hung on larger ones and every space filled with small wooden crosses that have either been lovingly crafted, or purchased from the shop on site. I was instantly hit with a sense of awe and couldn't help, but feel that if this was to be in the UK, it would be vandalised on a regular basis. 

I began reading some of the plaques and scriptures around and quickly realised, that although this is a place of pilgrimmage for Roman Catholics, this wasn't just a site of religion, it was a place of defiance. During the 19th Century, Lithuania was under Tsarist rule and in 1863 the rebellion uprising was quashed, leading to many deaths. No one knows exactly why crosses were first placed here, some think that they were prayers for health, but the common consensus was that crosses were placed to remember the dead from the rebliion uprising.

                         

                       

                          Image © Copyright Daniel Herrick 2014

Tsar rule decreed that croses were not to be placed on homesteads or farmlands and any that were, were torn down, so the hill became a place of rebellion where people came overnight to build and place crosses. It stood like a huge middle finger to their occupiers, showing unity amongst the people and in a day and age of violence, is a perfect example of a peacful, but meaningful protest. When the Russians returned during World War II, they bulldozed the hill removing all crosses and digging deep trenches all around so peope could not access it at all, but once again, almost overnight crosses appeared as an act of defiance. 

That is why this place is so significant to not only me, but also to the RAF and my collegues. We should all want to visit here! The RAFs role here is to police the air space above the Baltic regions and with the rising tensions in Ukraine, we are often approached by locals asking us to keep out the Russians. They don't want to fall under Russian rule again and visiting the Hill of Crosses both brings home why they don't, but also makes being here feel worthwhile. 

So me and a collegue have decided to organise an RAF ceremony, placing two crosses here from the Royal Air Force contigent based at Siauliai. We don't want it to be a flag placing ceremony and by no means want our crosses to be the biggest there, but we feel that it is important to leave a lasting reminder of our time here, as well as leave a thank you to the people of Siauliai and Lithuania for having us. Hopefully it will spark peoples interest in the place and they will see it not only as a sight of religion, but also a place of unity and defiance. 

                           

                         

                            Image © Copyright Daniel Herrick 2014

As a nation the United Kingdom is extremely lucky. We have been able to defend ourselves and haven't suffered real occupation since the Romans. The people of Lithuania have not been so fortunate, to see something like this fascinates me and gives me hope in the strength of the human spirit. Whether I agree with it or not, people should always stand up for their beliefs otherwise we will fall to others who force theirs upon us and I for one believe that this Unesco Heritage site is a must visit for all.

I shall post some pictures from our ceremony taking place on July 10th and let you all know how it went, so keep up to date on facebook, twitter or instagram.

Dan

Lithuania - Behind the Op

Some of you may or may not be aware that I am currently deployed on Operations in the Baltic state of Lithuania. My task here from the Royal Air Force (RAF) perspective, is to tell the stories of what people here do for the Air Force and for Operation Azotize and you can see some of my work by following my facebook page, or the RAF facebook page. However, when I'm done doing that, the photographer in me wants to do more and show more, so I thought that I would document my time here and some of the more interesting points about Lithuania and being on Ops out here, if nothing else it will keep me sane. 

So I will be writing posts on how it's going out here and photographs I take for me and not for the RAF.

Todays pictures are of trees. A good friend of mine once commented on one of my grandfathers photographs of a tree by saying, "I love trees!" We all laughed at the time and thought the rather peculiar exclamation for his love of trees rather hilarious, but out here in Lithuania, they really do Love trees!

              

                          

                             Image © Copyright Daniel Herrick

Lithuania's forests cover a third of the country and are one of its main assets and main exports, which explains why trees are extremely important to this nation. The amount of forests are growing year on year, as they grow more trees than they cut down and in 2012 a study by Yale University in the United States, showed that Lithuania is top of 132 countries in preserving its forests, thus not only helping it's own economy and infrastructure, but also helping planet earth in reducing harmful carbon dioxide. 

                             

                         

                             Image © Copyright Daniel Herrick

Lithuania's forests are only growing and the country is all the more beautiful for it. The landscape here is very luscious and green with crops and trees and Lithuania is a very agricultural land. The world could take a leaf out of the book of this small state in Eastern Europe and look after its natural resources. The trees here don't just add to the countries economy, but to its natural surroundings by improving water supply, stopping the erosion of soil and making the country a very beautiful place to visit, full of varied wildlife. 

So that's my first post on Lithuania behind the Op. I want to share with you some of the lesser known facts about this country which, let's face it, get's quite a lot of stick and has quite a stigma attached to it back in the UK. Hopefully I can show it off in a good light.

Hope you enjoyed reding it, please leave comments, share it and follow me on facebook - Daniel Herrick Pictures; on Twitter - @DanielHerrick; and on Instagram @danielherrickpictures.

Thank you for reading

                           

                              Image © Copyright Daniel Herrick

All images on this post were taken using the iPhone 4S and the Hipstamatic app.

A new year a new start

Firsty I would like to wish everyone a belated happy Christmas and a hapy New Year. I hope Santa brought you everything you wanted! He certainly did for me, with a new battery grip, a new case for my Go Pros and I'm writing this on my brand new Bluetooth keyboard on my iPad. I also got engaged to
my beautiful girlfriend on New Year's Eve to make sure the start of 2014 was the best it could be.

Last year had its up's an downs and was a rollercoaster for Daniel Herrick Pictures too. I learnt a lot from last year as regards marketing and selling my products which I am hoping to implement this year. Instead of just selling my time I am also going to start selling more of my imagery through Photobox links on my website. As regards my website I am going to be updating it to make it look a little "fresher" easier to navigate for my future plans.

So as well as Weddings, parties and product photography, which will be sold in password protected albums, I will also be selling other imagery that I take in my spare time, so keep an eye on twitter and facebook for new products.

Thats the stills side dealt with, now onto my films. At the end of last year I was invited to follow the Royal Air Force (RAF) Bobsleigh, Luge and Skeleton teams out to Austria for their novice camps. While I was out there I made a promotional video of the week to try and attract more people to the sports. The video went down really well and I wanted to use it as a sort of practice for Why Do We Do It. The format works really well and will tell peoples stories as to why they do their respective sports and what drives them. It also allows it to be topped off brilliantly by Loretta Livingstones amazing poem. I will soon be creatinng a shoootiing schedule with everyone to ensure we can get it all shot this year. 

It's an exciting time and 2014 is a year I'm very much looking forward too!

I will be posting images and the video from Austria and the novice camps soon, so keep an eye on facebook and twitter for those. 

Well that was a quick roundup off what's been happening. Hopefully it will be a good year and if you or anyone you know has any photography or video needs, please get in touch.

Happy New Year

Daniel Herrick LBIPP