Saved: Objects of the Dead
Dublin Core
Title
Saved: Objects of the Dead
Subject
Conceptual
Description
“Saved: Objects of the Dead” is a collaborative book by artist Jody Servon and poet Lorene Delany-Ullman. The book considers how everyday possessions can mediate grief and sustain connections to the deceased. “Saved” features photographs of belongings saved after a loved one’s death paired with prose poems that honor the emotional afterlives of ordinary things. Combining object study, ethnography, photography, and language, “Saved” addresses intimacy, collective memory, and human mortality.
This fifteen year project was developed through contributions from participants who lent an object they had kept after the death of someone close to them and shared its story in an interview. The objects include items such as a star ornament, a worn matchbook, clothing, tools and other possessions marked by use and time. Each object is photographed with close attention to its presence, material details and evidence of wear. Interviews with each participant are distilled into spare prose poems that preserve each participant’s voice while creating space for broader reflection.
Word and image function as collaborators, forming a lyrical, community-produced archive of grief, memory, attachment, and enduring love. The directness of the photographs and poems allows the work to span differences in gender, age, occupation, marital status, culture, and religious belief while recognizing the shared experience of loss. As individuals and communities navigate death, separation, displacement, and change, “Saved” offers a quiet and humane space for reflection, recognition, and connection.
The book is the culmination of a long-term project and includes “Mattering,” an essay by Cora Fisher, Curator of Visual Art Programming at the Brooklyn Public Library. It also features invited micro-essays and photographs by artists and authors Sonya Clark, Alex Espinoza, Erika Hayasaki, Swati Khurana, and Leslie Gray Streeter. An online component, @savedobjects, extends the project by inviting public submissions and stories about objects kept after a death, reinforcing the artists’ commitment to shared storytelling and collective witness.
This fifteen year project was developed through contributions from participants who lent an object they had kept after the death of someone close to them and shared its story in an interview. The objects include items such as a star ornament, a worn matchbook, clothing, tools and other possessions marked by use and time. Each object is photographed with close attention to its presence, material details and evidence of wear. Interviews with each participant are distilled into spare prose poems that preserve each participant’s voice while creating space for broader reflection.
Word and image function as collaborators, forming a lyrical, community-produced archive of grief, memory, attachment, and enduring love. The directness of the photographs and poems allows the work to span differences in gender, age, occupation, marital status, culture, and religious belief while recognizing the shared experience of loss. As individuals and communities navigate death, separation, displacement, and change, “Saved” offers a quiet and humane space for reflection, recognition, and connection.
The book is the culmination of a long-term project and includes “Mattering,” an essay by Cora Fisher, Curator of Visual Art Programming at the Brooklyn Public Library. It also features invited micro-essays and photographs by artists and authors Sonya Clark, Alex Espinoza, Erika Hayasaki, Swati Khurana, and Leslie Gray Streeter. An online component, @savedobjects, extends the project by inviting public submissions and stories about objects kept after a death, reinforcing the artists’ commitment to shared storytelling and collective witness.
Creator
Jody Servon & Lorene Delany-Ullman
Publisher
Artsuite
Date
2023
Format
Limited-edition hardcover bound in navy blue cloth with debossed and foil-stamped lettering
Photobook Item Type Metadata
Dimensions
27.94 × 24.76 cm
Number of Pages
138
Number of images
48 photographic plates
Edition Size
750
Place of Publication
Wilson, North Carolina, USA
Designer
Studio Elana Schlenker
Printer
Ofset Yapımevi in Turkey
ISBN
979-8-88680-764-6
Website
jodyservon.com
URL Link to project
savedobjectsofthedead.com
Where to buy
https://artsuite.com/products/saved-objects-of-the-dead
Links to reviews
https://thelittlereviewuk.substack.com/p/the-clutter-of-the-dead
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/haunting-objects-on-the-work-of-darrel-ellis/
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/haunting-objects-on-the-work-of-darrel-ellis/
https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-12890529/strange-objects-cope-grief-death.html
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/haunting-objects-on-the-work-of-darrel-ellis/
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/haunting-objects-on-the-work-of-darrel-ellis/
https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-12890529/strange-objects-cope-grief-death.html
Collection
Citation
Jody Servon, “Saved: Objects of the Dead,” Photobook Cafe Photobook Collection, accessed July 26, 2026, https://photobookcafe-archive.co.uk/items/show/2301.