Valley Church Cemetery, San Juan Island, Washington

This series of photos was taken at Valley Church Cemetery, a place of serene beauty – inviting, contemplative and intimate – in a series of photo shoots spanning the years 2015 to 2021.

The old stones speak of a forgotten past, rich with adventure and heartache – the intermingling of Native American and European peoples – of wars, childhood diseases and old age – of love and loss – of those, once cherished, now forgotten.

In this photographic series, I attempt to capture my experience of intimate walks among the stones, contemplating those pioneers of a new and rugged land, who proceeded us in life and also in death, and whose imprint is left in these stones, alone, as the rest of the world rushes on into modernity and the forgetfulness of the future.

One day, we will all be dust. Only the stones remember… and the old trees standing watch above.