The Crossing

Photographic series

2008 – 2009

Like most of us, I experience a brief sense of remorse or disgust when I pass a dead animal on the side of the road, but it is merely a fleeting moment in my busy day.  This series came about from a desire to examine and connect with death and the inadvertent destruction of nature in a humble and direct manner.  By confronting each animal killed by a car up close and carefully witnessing each one’s individual pose, setting and state of decomposition, I felt a much deeper connection with them than before.  Their attempt at crossing the linear boundaries of the road that encroaches upon their habitat also became a metaphor for crossing over into death itself.  As the series progressed, I also began to see not just horror but serenity in the eyes of the dead, anthropomorphically projecting my own hopes and fears about death and the loss of natural wilderness.