PLAYING WAR

As a child, I went on a camping trip to Olustee State Park where I witnessed a reenactment of the Civil War.  I was thrilled, mainly because I was able to see cannons fire and heard the countless muskets sounding off.  I did not understand what the Civil War was all about or why people dressed up to recreate it. After I retired from the Army I moved back to Florida and I decided to look at this event with a different perspective. 

In this collection, I capture the spirit of playing war, in all of its grandeur and in all of its grotesqueness.  Those who have not felt the rush of adrenaline as bullets crack in the air overhead or heard the agonizing screams of their best friend as he writhes in pain, often romanticize the notion of war.  Even more so wars of old, where bigotry and hate run deep.  This series retells the story of the reenactment of the Battle of Olustee here in Florida.