Remnants
Photography series, 2024-25
Documentary short film, 2026
Documentary short film, 2026
In the Midwest, pioneer cemeteries established during U.S. westward expansion are now some of the few places spared from development. Alongside the human remains they memorialize, these small plots of land have accidentally preserved remnants of the native tallgrass prairie, an ecosystem that has been almost entirely destroyed. Enclosed between cornfields and highways, these sites become crucial ecological archives where histories of destruction and survival remain uneasily intertwined.
Cemeteries are defined not only by their containment of death and loss, but also by ideas of care, remembrance, responsibility, and respect. These ethics are also the conditions for the ecosystem’s survival.
A two-channel film, Remnants presents parallel views of pioneer cemeteries and the plants within them, exploring the expansive worlds within these small sites. The film traverses cemetery prairie remnants in Illinois, Iowa, and Indiana, in search of ecological memory, care, and renewal.
Alongside the film, I produced a photography series including medium format film and digital photos documenting various remnant prairie sites.
You can email me to view a screener of the film.
Selected Film Stills
Selected Photography
click to enlarge
