April 2001
The Director - Features
Gone but Never Forgotten
A photographer's documentation of roadside memorials reminds us of the fragility of life, the tragedy of death and the power of remembrance
Descansos, from the Spanish word meaning "rest" or "relief," were symbols used to mark the place where weary pallbearers traveling on foot to a cemetery temporarily set down a coffin. Decansos were created to remind people to pray for the deceased. Early American settlers also used descansos to mark the site where pioneers died in Indian ambushes. Today, constructed as memorials to people killed in automobile accidents, descansos are maintained by family and friends of the deceased. Made of everything from Styrofoam to PVC piping, roadside memorials now blanket our highways.
Professional photographer Bill Sampson has photographed more than 300 roadside memorials. Gone but Never Forgotten features several of these photographs, as well as a brief article written by Sampson explaining the purpose of his photographic documentation of roadside memorials.
Sampson is a professional photographer in Marquette, MI, and received the ArtServe Michigan Creative Arts Grant in 2000 for his Roadside Memorials documentary. For more information, visit his Website at
www.billsampsonphotography.com.
