Christenberry often alluded to cycles of life and death in his elegiac photographs of decaying buildings set against explosively verdant landscapes. In his many photographs of modest rural graves, he confronted mortality and loss directly. Christenberry approached this elaborately festooned grave as a still life in the classical tradition of memento mori. The humble decorations crowding a plot of newly turned earth exude a deeply felt sense of mourning and genuine affection for the recently deceased.