Folk Funeraria is a collection of photographs taken by folklorist Sarah Bryan, who writes that she spends a great deal of time driving the backroads of the region, often stopping to visit cemeteries. Bryan says her blog is not a systematic documentation, but simply an aesthetic appreciation of how Southerners memorialized their loved ones.
Sarah Bryan is a UNC-trained folklorist (MA, 2003), and has worked in the field of folklife documentation for more than a decade. Sarah specializes in the cultural heritage of the American South, where she has conducted documentary work for and with a variety of organizations including the North Carolina Folklife Institute, North Carolina Arts Council, South Carolina Arts Commission, and Levine Museum of the New South.
All images © Sarah Bryan
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.01_525.jpg)
Family graveyard on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Laurel Springs (Alleghany County), NC
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.02_525.jpg)
Bethel United Methodist Church near Cheraw (Chesterfield County), South Carolina
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.03.jpg)
Bethel United Methodist Church near Cheraw (Chesterfield County), South Carolina
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.04_525.jpg)
Bethel United Methodist Church near Cheraw (Chesterfield County), South Carolina
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.05_525.jpg)
Bethel United Methodist Church near Cheraw (Chesterfield County), South Carolina
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.06_525.jpg)
Bethel United Methodist Church near Cheraw (Chesterfield County), South Carolina
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.07_525.jpg)
Old Burying Ground, Beaufort (Carteret County), North Carolina
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.08_525.jpg)
Center Methodist Church, Montgomery County, NC
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.09_525.jpg)
Andrews Free Will Baptist Church, Trenton (Jones County), NC
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.10_525.jpg)
Andrews Free Will Baptist Church, Trenton (Jones County), NC
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.11_525.jpg)
Andrews Free Will Baptist Church, Trenton (Jones County), NC
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.12_525.jpg)
New Hope Cemetery, Orange County, NC
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.13_525.jpg)
New Hope Cemetery, Orange County, NC
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.14_525.jpg)
New Hope Cemetery, Orange County, NC
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.15_525.jpg)
New Hope Cemetery, Orange County, NC
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.16_525.jpg)
New Hope Cemetery, Orange County, NC
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.17_525.jpg)
New Hope Cemetery, Orange County, NC
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.18_525.jpg)
New Hope Cemetery, Orange County, NC
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.19_525.jpg)
Old Smithville Cemetery, Southport (Brunswick County), North Carolina
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.20_525.jpg)
St. James Episcopal Church, Wilmington (New Hanover County), NC
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.21_525.jpg)
Deep Creek Friends’ Meeting, Yadkin County, North Carolina
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.22_525.jpg)
Deep Creek Friends’ Meeting, Yadkin County, North Carolina
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.23_525.jpg)
Zion Lutheran Church, near Speedwell, Wythe County, Virginia
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.24_525.jpg)
Zion Lutheran Church, near Speedwell, Wythe County, Virginia
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.25_525.jpg)
Zion Lutheran Church, near Speedwell, Wythe County, Virginia
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.26_525.jpg)
Zion Lutheran Church, near Speedwell, Wythe County, Virginia
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.27_525.jpg)
Zoar Cemetery, Uwharrie National Forest (Montgomery County), NC
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.28_525.jpg)
Zoar Cemetery, Uwharrie National Forest (Montgomery County), NC
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.29_525.jpg)
Zoar Cemetery, Uwharrie National Forest (Montgomery County), NC
![Folk Funeraria of the South](/media/images/08.18.13.30_525.jpg)
Mount Zion AME Zion Church, near Mount Gilead, Montgomery County, North Carolina
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08.26.13
05:09