Photographic memory(alization) – A person, a camera, and 1,854 pictures of roadside shrines
Terry Cook has dedication, passion, transportation…and a camera.
Terry visited my blog a while back and left a comment. Curious about this commenter, I clicked link after link and followed a line of social media until I came to the Flickr photostream of MT Silverstar. I was absolutely amazed at the images I found there. Terry has perhaps the most impressive, immense, and diverse collection of roadside memorial photographs I have ever seen. Not only is each memorial treated in a compassionate and thoughtful manner (any known details about the shrines and the people they memorialize are included), it is clear that the photographer has often made an effort to re-visit many of the shrines after the initial encounter:
There are photographs of smaller shrines:
and photographs of larger ones:
…photographs of new-age shrines:
and photographs of traditional shrines:
The photographer has an eye for detail…
And an eye for individuality:
I always wonder what draws people to these unique markers and was especially curious about what led this particular person to put so much effort into stopping and taking the time to lovingly photograph nearly every roadside memorial that would otherwise have flashed past. I asked Terry and this is what I received in response:
“When I was very young I used to see the Montana American Legion fatality markers ( a small white cross on a red pole) along the road and they seemed a little spooky to me. Later I worked for many years as a Reserve Deputy Sheriff, and while attending to motor vehicle accidents was a routine part of the job, having to go to someone’s home to tell them that a Son, Daughter, Wife or Husband would not be coming home was a task that I dreaded. Each time I knew that what we or I was about to tell someone would change their life and would be something that they would remember forever. I’m pretty sure that those experiences lead me to my interest in (or obsession with) the memorials that families and friends create for their loved ones.”
Thank you, Terry, for sharing these beautiful images.
Spontaneous Shrines 