“People seek leadership not only from the living but also from the dead,” writes Leslie George Katz in Lee Friedlander’s epochal American Monuments. Forty years later, the landscape has grown more complex and multifaceted. Memorials and monuments have gained renewed popularity in the United States. In a rapidly changing, uncertain world, they stand resolutely along the roadside as symbols of supposedly grand human values. These structures have become more monumental and sophisticated, borrowing strategies from advertising and marketing, while clearly resonating with contemporary issues. They convey a blend of national pathos, Christian evangelism, and military pride, often presented in a deeply unsettling, extreme form of interpretation. For several years, I have been documenting contemporary American memorials. My approach is broad, incorporating museum displays as well as unintended sculptures found in public spaces.