Buried Louisville, Kentucky

Casey Fredette is a self-taught photographer whose passion for the art began at an early age with a polaroid camera. Amidst a nomadic childhood, photography provided him the means to capture moments that would otherwise be lost to time and allow them to live forever. His recent relocation to Crystal River, a unique gem along Florida's Nature Coast, has given him the chance to make his passion a priority. While exploring the cities and cemeteries of the American Southeast, contrasting to those of his early New England upbringing, sparked a year-long project to preserving the memory of those otherwise forgotten.

The history-rich city of Louisville, Kentucky, offers stunning examples of haves and have-nots. Nowhere is this social chasm displayed more plainly than in its cemeteries. The 154 cemeteries within the city demonstrate how the socioeconomic factors that separate us in life follow us into death. A National Cemetery, including the ornate crypt of a United States President and his wife, stands in stark contrast to the neglected City Cemetery. Less than fifteen minutes away in a nearly 300-acre majestic cemetery, a barbed-wire-topped wall separates it from a deeply troubled and neglected 28-acre lot. Across the city, examples of the chasm that is Louisville is highlighted tombstone to tombstone.This photo series takes the reader on an exploration of the headstones, tombs, vaults, and monuments of Louisville's dead--persons of note, stillborn children, entire families, war veterans, and more, lost forever to time. Across these grave markers, one finds genuine pieces of art, erased by time and neglect. The many graveyards and cemeteries of this unique city serve as a portal, looking at the history of Kentucky.