Rustic wooden cross decorated with dried flowers, pine cones, and natural elements hanging outdoors.
Three white crosses standing in a dark field behind barbed wire fence at night.
Decorated wooden memorial cross with flowers on rocky desert terrain under a clear blue sky.
Weathered wooden memorial cross adorned with greenery and beads on red rock desert landscape.
White roadside memorial cross with American flag star reading In Memory in an open field.
Weathered wooden memorial cross leaning among debris near highway light poles at dusk.
White memorial cross for Mark Sanchez of Flagstaff Fire decorated with flowers in Arizona desert landscape.
Detailed view of rustic white painted wooden cross joint secured with rope in desert setting.
Desert roadside memorial featuring antler cross with colorful flowers against red sandstone cliffs.
Close-up of roadside memorial cross for Dennis 1968-2002 with feathers and flowers in desert.
White metal memorial cross with plaque surrounded by trees, rocks, and white flowers in forest setting.
Roadside memorial with angel wings near Arizona State Route 260 West highway sign at dusk.
White wooden cross memorial with colorful flowers placed against tall pine trees in a forest setting.
Two white crosses with a bouquet of colorful flowers nestled among tall pine trees in a forest memorial.
Weathered wooden cross adorned with yellow and pink artificial flowers in a sunlit pine forest memorial.
Simple dark wooden cross memorial leaning against a pine tree overlooking a golden grassy field under blue sky.
Close-up of a weathered wooden fence post with rusty wire and metal hardware against a tree trunk.
Roadside memorial cross with yellow flowers beside a rural road lined with pine trees under blue sky.
Faded artificial sunflowers placed at the base of a fire-scarred tree trunk under a clear blue sky.
Decorative metal cross memorial with colorful artificial flowers on a rocky hillside against blue sky.
Decorative black metal cross roadside memorial with colorful artificial flowers in a desert setting.
Solitary white memorial cross with flowers standing on gravel beside a desert road.
Silhouetted desert landscape at dusk with crosses and a flag against a blue sky.
Weathered wooden cross leaning against bare trees in a dry desert landscape.
White memorial cross for George Stakes 1944-2023 adorned with purple flowers on rocky desert terrain.
Outdoor memorial with a framed photograph, heart-shaped stone, and small objects on dry desert brush.
Dark metal memorial sign for Rick Palanio 514 mounted on a pole against a cloudy blue sky.
Blue memorial cross with flowers and stones at base set against a rugged desert mountain landscape.
White wooden cross memorial surrounded by rocks in a dramatic desert canyon landscape under cloudy skies.
A rustic wooden cross memorial with an American flag marks a desert grave site under stormy skies.
A weathered driftwood cross decorated with faded pink fabric flowers in a desert mountain cemetery.
Silhouetted memorial crosses dot a rugged desert hillside against a dramatic blue sky with scattered clouds.
Roadside memorial cross for Jim Nelson, a motorcycle accident victim, with cowboy hat silhouette against desert landscape.
Dramatic silhouette of large desert boulders against a cloudy sky at dusk.
Black and white photo of a roadside memorial cross bearing the name Brian Hansen against a cloudy sky.
Desert roadside memorial cross made of wrenches surrounded by rocks with mountain landscape backdrop.
Roadside memorial in desert with motorcycle headlight and wrench cross surrounded by rocks.
Roadside memorial with letter K heart cross and colorful flowers in sandy desert.
Three roadside memorial crosses in desert sand beneath dramatic stormy sky with power pole.
Three memorial crosses in desert sand with rocks, surrounded by green desert shrubs.
Two memorial crosses silhouetted against bright blue sky on rocky desert hillside.
Weathered wooden memorial cross for Billy 1959-2005 with handwritten inscriptions in desert.
A dark roadside memorial cross stands on rocky desert hillside under bright blue sky.
Two roadside memorial crosses with flowers and decorations on a dry desert hillside.
A decorated roadside memorial cross adorned with colorful items near a speed limit sign.

Descansos: Roadside Memorials of the Southwest

Descansos: Roadside Memorials of the Southwest is a collaborative photographic project exploring themes of grief, remembrance, and public expression across the highways and backroads of the American Southwest. “Descansos,” Spanish for “resting places,” mark the sites where lives were suddenly and tragically lost. These roadside memorials—crosses, flowers, photographs, candles, toys, and personal mementos—speak to the love left behind and the lives we’re often left to imagine.


As photographers based in and deeply connected to this region, we approach these spaces with reverence. From rural highways in Arizona to winding roads in New Mexico and Colorado, we document each memorial as both a tribute and a cultural marker, honoring stories that may never be fully told.


This project seeks to bear witness to the grief made visible, the names remembered and unnamed, and the emotional landscape etched into the desert and pavement. Some memorials are formal, others handmade or weathered by time, but all are acts of remembrance and quiet pleas for awareness.


Through this body of work, we aim not only to preserve these powerful tributes through photography, but to spark conversations about road safety, mourning in public space, and how we as communities and individuals remember those we’ve lost.

Descansos: Roadside Memorials of the Southwest

Descansos: Roadside Memorials of the Southwest is a collaborative photographic project exploring themes of grief, remembrance, and public expression across the highways and backroads of the American Southwest. “Descansos,” Spanish for “resting places,” mark the sites where lives were suddenly and tragically lost. These roadside memorials—crosses, flowers, photographs, candles, toys, and personal mementos—speak to the love left behind and the lives we’re often left to imagine.


As photographers based in and deeply connected to this region, we approach these spaces with reverence. From rural highways in Arizona to winding roads in New Mexico and Colorado, we document each memorial as both a tribute and a cultural marker, honoring stories that may never be fully told.


This project seeks to bear witness to the grief made visible, the names remembered and unnamed, and the emotional landscape etched into the desert and pavement. Some memorials are formal, others handmade or weathered by time, but all are acts of remembrance and quiet pleas for awareness.


Through this body of work, we aim not only to preserve these powerful tributes through photography, but to spark conversations about road safety, mourning in public space, and how we as communities and individuals remember those we’ve lost.