LaNiiyah and Lanel Scott play along with a mime hired by Astral Industries during the National Funeral Directors and Morticians 79th annual conference in Richmond this week.

Photographer’s Note: I’ve photographed hundreds of conferences, but this was the most unusual. Surrounded by hearses and caskets, people went about selling the business of death. Levity ran through the interactions I witnessed and much of the conference felt like a family reunion. I imagine dealing with such a heavy subject as your life’s work demands a clever mechanism for coping.

For what it’s worth, the mime stole the show.