Roadside Memorial Photography | American West

Roadside memorials appear along highways across the American West, marking the places where lives were lost and remembered. These small shrines, often marked by crosses, flowers, and personal objects, stand quietly beside desert roads and rural highways.

The photographs in In Passing document these memorial sites across Nevada and California, exploring how grief, memory, and landscape intersect in unexpected places.

Two white crosses decorated with teddy bears and flowers in a desert landscape with mountains in the background and a blue sky.
Two wooden crosses in a desert landscape with rocks and shrubs, engraved with memorial messages, with a blue sky and clouds in the background.
Three white crosses on a pile of rocks in a desert landscape with distant mountains under a partly cloudy sky.
A simple wooden cross with a directional sign and flowers attached stands in a barren desert landscape with a mountain in the distance and a blue sky above.

Fine art prints from this series are available in the print shop.

Roadside memorials are a unique cultural tradition in the United States. They serve as personal markers of loss while also becoming part of the landscape itself. In remote desert environments these crosses and markers often stand alone for years, quietly recording moments that might otherwise be forgotten.

A teddy bear with a worn appearance sitting next to a beige baseball cap with red and black lettering, both surrounded by dry plants and rocks in a desert landscape.
White cross in a desert landscape with mountains and sky in the background.
A deserted desert landscape with sparse shrubs and a white cross with the name Susan Lewis on top, surrounded by flowers and memorial items.

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In Passing

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Constructed Life