Roadside Portraits: Mapping Memory and Loss Through Photography
Roadside Portraits is an ongoing exploration of grief, memory, and communal resilience through the documentation of descansos, roadside memorials marking lives lost in transit. These sites, often adorned with flowers, crosses, and personal artifacts, serve as quiet yet powerful markers of absence and presence. They are not only tributes to individuals but also cultural signifiers, revealing how communities navigate loss in public space.
My work seeks to honor these memorials while inviting dialogue about the social and emotional landscapes they inhabit. Through photography, I trace the intersections of personal tragedy and collective remembrance, mapping stories that might otherwise fade into anonymity. Each image becomes a point of reflection, a way to consider how we hold memory, how we mark time, and how we create meaning in the aftermath of loss.
This project is rooted in respect and care. By documenting these ephemeral monuments, I aim to preserve their significance while acknowledging the vulnerability they represent. Roadside Portraits is not only an archive but a gesture toward empathy, a visual ethnography of grief that asks us to pause, witness, and remember.
Tony Rincon 