Slightly over a year ago, I wrote this post. It mentioned Doug Stockdale’s work formerly known as, Bad Trip – Sad Trip, now entitled, In Passing. The images from the work can be found here. Doug’s work was recently published in Lenswork in the January/February 2008 edition.
I watched with some interest as he put the series together. There were times when he didn’t know which direction to head, fretted over the way to tone the images, or perhaps the way to display them in their final forms. Certainly, at least not for me, these are not images that you hang upon your wall, or perhaps they are. They are not shall we say, home decoration.
My initial reaction to them was that it was a study of death. Not directly, but indirectly; however, as is the case with art, what you first think is not always what the artist intended, nor is it what you will think later. I never delved very deeply to find out his intent, instead, I preferred to derive my own meaning. I think that I found it.
On Friday morning, August 15, 2008, I was going for my morning walk along Old Trolly Road in Summerville, SC. My usual walk takes me 2 miles north on the eastern side of the street and then 2 miles south on the same side; however, on Friday, for a change of pace, I decided to walk on the western side of the street. I came to the corner of Beverly and Old Trolly Road. At this corner, there was a marker, pictured above, similar to the types that Doug had photographed. Formerly, I probably would have kept on going, but the combination of Doug’s work and this marker gave me a pause. It also started a train of thoughts that seemed to have its own locomotion.
I began to wonder: Who was Beverly? Also, this memorial marker at the corner of Beverly and Old Trolly Road, was this a cruel twist of fate? A horrible irony that this person should die at this intersection bearing her namesake? Perhaps the street was so named after the incident, whatever it was. I really know nothing. I can assume, because of the name, that this person was a female. Further, she would have been someone’s daughter, perhaps someone’s sister, niece, aunt, mother, grandmother, etc. Perhaps I knew her. I’ve only known one Beverly in my life, and the odds are astoundingly low that this is she, but we never know. I don’t know what role she played in life. I only know that someone cared enough to memorialize her at this intersection.
So, I continue to be impressed by this body of work. It has touched me in ways that I couldn’t have imagined. Now, each time that I pass one of these markers on a highway, and there are plenty of markers to see, I think about those people and about Doug’s work. I think about the fragility and seeming randomness of life. I think about enjoying what I have right now and appreciating that fact that I have no roadside markers showing the locations of my family members. I now think that this project was a study of life, of those left behind to remember.
Great work, Doug!
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One Response to “Who was Beverly? : Thoughts about “In Passing””
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Powerful image and post.
There are far too many of these roadside memorials dotting the highways around me. We live in an area where is seems there is one fatal accident within 60 miles of me every day, sometimes more. The Garden State Parkway, The Jersey Turnpike, Rt. 80, Rt. 78, Rt. 22, and many others have many such markers and it is a sobering sight.