Calle' de Morte' revisited........

Multiple Family -Highway 98 - Merced CA - July 23rd, 2003

Imaged on Sep 03rd, 2003

a few years back, i started documenting roadside memorials during my travels for a project i wanted to do... a small independently published book perhaps, or an e-book maybe; but the images are still just sitting in my files on my hard drives waiting to be called up again and put together.

i posted one about a month ago on MySpace blog, and thought with halloween approaching, and on the heels of that - "Dia de las Muertes" - i wanted to get back to this project again somehow - so i will randomly now post here from what i have gathered to date.

the subject matter results from the roadside memorials placed after an accident by loved ones and friends - you know what i mean here - a small cross, bunches of flowers, a candle or two, mementos of a life lost abruptly.

I have endeavored to gather as much background information as possible on each site - the names and dates of the accident, any thing else i can research out of local newspapers about the circumstances - but sometimes all i am left with is just a mile marker indicator of the road it took place on.

Unknown - back road blind intersection - Lodi CA

One of Three total at intersection - imaged July 11th, 2005

lately, i keep returning to the folder on my computer and looking at the images there every time i look for something else - the folder just sort of draws me back into it each time the directory tree comes up on the left side of the screen and probably because i placed it into my blogs files folder to try to use the information more.

reminding me of the good times i had on those trips, but sad each time when i realize what the subject matter really is.

morte' - death.

en el calle' - on the road.

and more often than not... alone.

Larry & Carole - Hwy 49 - between Placerville and Sutter Creek CA - Sep 21st, 2001

Imaged on Jan 12th, 2004

am i questioning my own mortality then?
associating the good vacations and trips out with images of the roadside ends of lives instead of the 'vacation' pics we want to show everyone upon our return? (in reality - i don't show these images upon returning home when everyone wants to see the vacation pictures...)

i am not sure why or what it comes down to, but there is beauty in these images of death, there is comfort to those who build or maintain these memorials - to know that others may see them and grasp that the person or persons involved mattered ... and to see that their memories are kept alive long after they or the memorial is gone.

Unknown Youth hit and run - 223rd St/east of Avalon - Carson CA - Apr 08th, 2005

Imaged on Apr 12, 2005

maybe it's more of a fascination with deathly things - again, i have a rather large collection of Dia de las Muertes artifacts; but i also owned a florist shop for years and dealt with death second hand at best but was directly involved in the planning and execution (bad choice of wordage) of the memorials to those who have passed on. when you are on a first name basis with most of the mortuary personnel in southern california and can navigate your way thru the back rooms of their places of employment, know the technical and nick names of tools and products used in the service of death that way- it's probably not a good thing to know ultimately what or how you yourself will go out.

opt for cremation if possible, and leave a marker someplace to show you were here, even if only temporarily.

i choose sometimes to image in sepia or B&W to heighten the effect, as it adds to them and i think does justice to the subjects in whatever small way i may be able to.