Sisters of the Black Rose at the Reinterment of Confederate War Dead Magnolia Cemetery Charleston SC 1999

I have a project which focuses on identifiers – how people make, use,
and receive them – especially in groups. 
My working title for the project is “Real ID”.   This photograph is part of that project.  In the 1990s, Confederate war dead were found
to have been buried under the Citadel football stadium.  They were reinterred in Magnolia
Cemetery.  There were processions to the
cemetery, considerable media attention, and many reenactors.  An especially interesting reenactor group called
themselves the Sisters of the Black Rose. 
They were reenactor mourners. Prior to one of the funerals, 22 of the
sisters – one for every coffin – led the funeral march through Charleston and
out to Magnolia.  I photographed them at
graveside. I didn’t like this negative because its background was cluttered
with reporters, people walking aimlessly, and other distractions. In the past year, using Photoshop and Gaussian
blur, I eliminated the background and made my first acceptable  prints from the
negative.