I am working on some narratives to my Roadside Memorial project, and part of that work is confronting some memories of events from years ago that have a lot to do with why I started this project in the first place. I am still in the rough draft of the stories that go with these three photographs. I am having difficulty in keeping these events from seeming too gloomy and morbid. This project is not about morbidity, it is about a unique form of healing from intense grief and tragedy. My own experiences were as an outside observer. In each case I was the first person to arrive upon a tragic scene within minutes of the actual event. I did not know these people, but I was there at the moment of their deaths, purely through random chance.

The memory of what occurred at these places is still as clear as a photograph for me. I drive past these locations many times a week. They are all within a few miles of my house. I think the intensity of those memories, and the reverential feeling I still have for these places is what connects me emotionally to the people who create Roadside Memorials for lost loved ones. I understood the reason why from the moment I first saw a Roadside Memorial.


girl killed on a bicycle. 1975


drunk driving accident. 1977


three men killed eluding police. 1989