Tiptoe Through the Garland

Death and Christmas are not a traditional mix. We are familiar with leaving flowers and prayers at the resting places of our loved ones, but at a time of year when more graves are decorated than any other, what are we to make of Christmas celebrations in the home of the dead? Nina Salerno’s photos of Christmas decorations put up by mourners at Los Angeles area cemeteries reveal a uniquely human form of expression dealing with a universal experience: loss and how to cope with it. Sad, ironic, macabre and beautiful, these images pack the kind of impact that transforms simple photographs into something much more; not merely “art,” but a personalized meaning relevant to each viewer, with an introduction by Jeremy Cushner.