As a photographer, wandering through 250+ East Coast cemeteries has proved to be an amazing experience. Finding touching epitaphs and beautiful carvings on the headstones heightened my wonder about the lives of people buried there. As a bonus along the way, I reconnected with my ancestors and gained a better sense of my New England and Ohio roots. More importantly, I have come to appreciate cemeteries as sanctuaries where people may feel close to those who are gone and experience their deep feelings of grief. Because of this I approach cemeteries with reverence and respect.
Before the project began, cemeteries were uncomfortable places for me. People in my family died young, and we did not often visit their graves because of ongoing grief for losses the family found hard to accept. Today I find cemeteries peaceful places of honor and remembrance. As a result of visiting and sharing my experiences with others, I have developed a workable philosophy of grief and death, and a comfort with the subject I had not considered possible as a younger person.
I bring to this project an interest in spiritual issues, and a background in both social work and photography. My earliest photos are traditional nature images. I recently have published a book of photographs—accompanied by prose and poetry—paying tribute to cemeteries. It portrays the wonderful richness of cemetery art and history, showing cemeteries as a place of solace and comfort, mystery and remembrance. Another book is in the works—this one featuring Rochester NY area cemeteries, publish date spring, 2025, by Fonthill Press.