Debra J. Richardson is a gravestone studies researcher in southeastern Minnesota and northeastern Iowa: a taphophile.
My work began innocently enough with a single stone- the stone that launched a thousand tombstones. Introducing the preface of their fascinating volume on the art of early New England stone carving, Memorials for Children of Change, authors Tashijan wrote that their study developed from “a nearly maniacal passion to see all 17th and 18th century gravestones in New England- after seeing the first one”. Musing upon their quote, already six feet deep into my personal journey of seeing -and photographing- all pioneer 19th century gravestones in southeastern Minnesota and northeastern Iowa, I experienced no modest relief. I was not the lone maniac consumed with unbridled passion for tombstones.
A taphophile loves tombstones and graveyards, but never turns morbid about it. After touring hundreds of cemeteries, I’ve confirmed a positive vision of death- specifically, life beyond death. With camera in hand, I walk a fine line in pioneer graveyards: simultaneously part of a historical past while peeking at an eternal horizon.
I photograph stories etched across faces of aged white limestone and marble markers, some near to wholly illegible, many lying prone, encroached by or sunken under sod, broken into pieces, felled off foundations, reset flat in cement, missing sections, hidden by bushes, lost in brush, languishing in scrap piles out of way of lawn maintenance workers, surviving with primitive restoration efforts, coated with whitewash, chipped, battered, weathered, toppled, tipped, forgotten. In a perfect world every stone merits proper preservation efforts. Failing that, stones can be saved by being photographed, researched, catalogued, and archived for history. Every stone I capture as image for posterity represents scores yet to be recorded.
Traveling rural roads and tip-toeing amongst tombstones, I listen to life stories and journey back into history. It’s another world out there. I document my research with camera and words. I’m having the time of my life amongst the dead- photographing as many area pioneer tombstones as possible before I rest in peace. The photographs I post to my web journal are picture postcards from the edge of eternity.
Wish you were here. See you there.
