The most obvious distinction of many south Louisiana graveyards is that hardly anyone is buried in them. In the delta, where the Mississippi River meets the Gulf of Mexico, the land is flat, wet, and often below sea level, so coffins are placed in elevated tombs, vaults, and mausoleums. Truly cities of the dead, these cemeteries contain buildings of stone or brick, marble statues, wrought-iron fences, narrow passages, and hidden enclaves.
In sixty-two photographs, William K. Greiner captures the visual landscape of these ghostly neighborhoods. A colorful respite from the gray conventions of graveyard photography, his images leap off the page with brilliant hues. His pictures are not just about the graves, but also about the lives and values of the people who inhabit and visit them.
Where we expect to find solemn stones, Greiner points to a new lexicon of mourning. Plastic dolls, polyester ribbons, Styrofoam letters, and brilliant bouquets of plastic flowers adorn these graves and fill these photos. Holidays are marked with valentine hearts, Fourth of July displays, and Christmas decorations. Bingo boards and Harley-Davidson models stand as silent reminders of the daily lives the residents once lived.
