Sarah Samaan Photography

This series focuses on a small and nearly forgotten cemetery in Frisco, Texas. Zion Cemetery was established in the mid-1800s in what was once an isolated farming community. It is seated atop a small bluff and was a place of beauty and peace until only a few years ago. Since then, suburban development has raged around it. Relentless traffic, oversized homes, and the roar of construction vehicles drowns out what little birdsong is left. 

Very few remember its inhabitants, many of whose lives could be counted in hours or days. Yet within the cemetery’s deteriorating gates, a visitor may sense the stillness and grief that once defined this little cemetery.

The past is always with us, whether acknowledged or not. This cemetery is a reminder that no matter the structures we build, the grand homes that shelter us, and the roads that carry us on our daily missions, we are only passing through. What we leave behind may matter as much as how we live the lives we have been given. 

How do we honor the past, the present, but also the future? How do we care for the earth and sky that sustain us and all living things? How might a chance meeting with a forgotten infant spark a vision that invites action and redemption?