In Memory Of
Ongoing
Contemporary bereavement practices dictate a swift return to daily life, the ceremonious customs of the past replaced by proceedings designed to save precious time. As mourners depart from the day's events, family members are often left to deal with their loss in private, away from the very public setting.
In these images, I examine the phenomenon of private loss in public spaces through the ritual of roadside memorials that commemorate the death of a loved one. Accompanying photographs of these memorials, I include the specifics surrounding the death, where available. I ask whether these details, rarely included with the makeshift memorial as at a traditional Western internment site, change our perception of how a physical space can become sacred and aid in the personal grieving process.
While these tributes traditionally marked the locations of car accidents, many also memorialize victims of other deaths. I lost my father in an accidental death, the site of which became a place to relive the trauma and pain rather than a source of peace and healing. These photographs of roadside memorials, accompanied by images representative of my own struggle with grief, consider both the contrasts and the parallels between public versus private mourning.