On the D&RG Railroad south out of Walsenburg, Colorado, there stand the remains of a small coal-mining community named Ludlow—three abandoned shacks and a monument put up by the United Mine Workers.

I drove eighty miles out of my way one morning in order to photograph the memorial—a statue of a man, woman, and child. The site is lonely, a nondescript place on dry flats; that day the wind blew, the sun was cold, and my equipment was unfamiliar. I found myself saying over and over again, please, just give me these pictures.

—R.A., 1981