In Memoriam Rob Keppens

Rob died on October 11th 2015. He was a great photographer and a dear friend although I only met him over the internet. I'm still very sad. But I'd like to add here the poem used on the Commemorate Card from which also this photo of him was scanned: The poem is a variant of the poem "Do not stand at my grave and weep" by Mary Elizabeth Frye. It was in Dutch (Flemish?) the crude translation into English was done by me.

Ween niet bij mijn graf,
ik ben niet daar.
Ik slaap niet.

Ik ben de wind die waait.
Ik ben de glinsterende zon in de sneeuw.
Ik ben de steile oprijzende wind,
die de vogels draagt.
Ik ben een beeld aan de muur.
Ik ben de zachte sterren boven jou.

Ween niet bij meijn graf,
ik been niet daar.
Ik stierf niet.

Don’t weep by my grave,
I am not there.
I do not sleep.

I am the wind that blows.
I am the glistening sun on the snow.
I am the rising wind
That carries the birds.
I am a picture on the wall.
I am the tender stars above you.

Don’t weep by my grave.
I am not there.
I did not die.

Rest in Peace, Rob!
Rust zacht, mijn vriend.

Marta Wojtkowska, Fred Fouarge, sea-herdorf, Smiley Derleth and 3 other people have particularly liked this photo

17 comments - The latest ones

Martin Siegel ^club

Admire Rob's photgraphy on ipernity
www.ipernity.com/home/294723

and on Flickr
www.flickr.com/photos/32981029@N07

8 years ago. Edited 8 years ago.

Murray Kelly

Nicely done and thank you.
Murray

8 years ago.

Murray Kelly

I am still coming to terms with this news. It all happened so suddenly but in reality his death would have been sad however much warning we had. Thank you for the translation but it is almost English as it stands, and thank you for posting the portrait. I never knew his face.
His spirit will live long as he has so many images on the 'net and they say more about his skills than I ever can.
Thank you.

8 years ago.

Martin Siegel ^club has replied to Murray Kelly

I agree, Murray. His photography speaks for him.

8 years ago.

Mikeinlagardette

Martin, thanks so much for posting this photo of Rob.

Like you, I never met him in person, but I considered him a real friend in every sense of the word, and I am still shocked by the news of his death.

The poem is perfect - Rob would have approved, - we had many interesting conversations about the similarity of Flemish and English, and this is as good an example as any.

A talented photographer, a gifted linguist, cultured and good humoured, I shall miss him very deeply,

Sincerely, Mike

8 years ago.

Martin Siegel ^club has replied to Mikeinlagardette

Thank you, Mike.

The only credit I can claim is for the translation of the poem into English which I tried to my best abilities - as it was for Rob. At least there was no rhyming necessary.

Best regards
Martin

8 years ago.

imagesfrugales

Like others I never met Rob in person, but he surely was a true friend. Rob and his wife had just recovered from a bad accident - and now this heartbreaking news of his sudden and unexpected death. He became only a few months older than I am now.

Rob was a brother in spirit since my first steps at flickr and my early caffenol days. He was a reliable, helpful and generous comrade with his profound knowledge of photography and darkroom chemistry.

Thank you very much, Martin, for taking care of us. Our compassionate thoughts are with Robs wife, his whole family and all his friends. We miss you so much, Rob. You are the rising wind and a picture on my wall.

Sincerely
Reinhold

8 years ago. Edited 8 years ago.

Martin Siegel ^club has replied to imagesfrugales

Thank you for your kind words, Reinhold. It was the least I could do. I wish I could have done more.

I believe all his friends here feel very much the same.

Kind regards
Martin

8 years ago.

imagesfrugales

Thank you for the link, Michael. An appropriate song.

8 years ago.

imagesfrugales

It is now 1 year ago that Rob left us, a year that slipped by so fast, Thank you so much Martin for keeping the commemoration of Rob alive.

7 years ago.

Martin Siegel ^club

Reinhold, you are right, that year slipped so fast and the least I can do is keeping the memories from vanishing. Difficult.

7 years ago.

Martine

Un beau portrait et un bel hommage l

7 years ago.

Martin Siegel ^club has replied to Martine

Merci bien, Martine!

7 years ago.

Marta Wojtkowska ^club

I miss him.
I didn't know him in person, but we had so many great discussions here at Ipernity.
I am rediscovering them now and then, and I want to ask him about something, then I realize that he's gone and I miss him.

7 years ago.

Martin Siegel ^club has replied to Marta Wojtkowska ^club

Thank you Marta. We all do.

7 years ago.

Murray Kelly

Martin and i met in France last month and in the evening we had a quiet memorial of Robbe.
Gone, but not forgotten.

6 years ago.

Martin Siegel ^club has replied to Murray Kelly

This was a great evening even if I did not smoke the cigar.

6 years ago.

Sign-in to write a comment.

		Page color
		Comments Panel
		Screen Margins
▼▲
		Widescreen

← Among Martin Siegel's photos

See also...

let's talk about film let's talk about film

Three or less Three or less

Keywords

Authorizations, license

In Memoriam Rob Keppens

Ξ	Frame Options
3 - +