( CNN ) Sometimes , people pretend to die . That 's pretty much the basic idea behind `` Still Lives , '' a thought-provoking series of portraits by photographer Eliot Dudik . These images reveal a whole new perspective on America 's Civil War re-enactors . But they also aim to spark conversations about two things that touch us all : life and death . For generations , enthusiasts and history buffs have been spending their weekends re-staging historic clashes of the War Between the States , pretending to lose their lives on the battlefield . Dudik uses his camera to study these faces while they fake death . Some have their eyes closed . Some , open . Some looking away , others looking directly at us . The subject is unsettling . But because we know they 're really alive , it 's somehow captivating . `` I think there 's a shifting back and forth between life and death as you look at them , '' Dudik said . `` When there 's this oddness and this shifting , I think it holds our attention a little longer , which hopefully brings us into each of our own individual conversations about what life and death means and what war means to us as individuals . '' Admittedly , the concept is a heavy one . To make it more approachable , Dudik injected a bit of humor . He started collecting reasons why re-enactors choose to live or die during their performances . After `` dying '' on battlefields 148 times , longtime re-enactor Ed `` Doc '' Keith told Dudik he has decided to quit dying . Now , Dudik said , Keith `` leaves the dying to the young . '' `` That statement really stuck with me , '' Dudik said . And it propelled him to jump feet first into the project . Another re-enactor told Dudik at historic Gettysburg , Pennsylvania , that `` he does n't die very often because he 's one of the few that are actually in shape and can make it all the way across the battlefield . '' A third re-enactor said he dies `` almost every time because he finds it more realistic , '' Dudik said . `` Another guy told me he does n't die in the high grass because he has allergies . '' Social media . Follow @ CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography . 2015 marks 150 years since the war 's end . The death toll totaled nearly 500,000 Union and Confederate soldiers , according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs . Dudik 's project helped him understand and respect the solemn reasons behind the re-enactments . `` Still Lives '' was inspired by its sister project , `` Broken Land , '' which focuses on landscapes linked to the Civil War . `` I 've always been fascinated by war in general since I was little -- not so much in a romantic way -- but more in a frightening way , '' Dudik said . `` It 's always kind of scared the crap out of me , basically . '' The dramatic rift the nation felt in the 1860s reminds him of today 's political landscape . `` I feel like the country is basically paralyzed by the divide in politics , '' Dudik said . When it comes to equipment , this guy leans totally old school . Dudik shot the project entirely on film , using what photographers call a view camera , which has a basic design dating back to the 19th century . Projects can become more collaborative with a view camera , Dudik said . During the `` Still Lives '' portrait shoots , he enjoyed explaining to the re-enactors how the camera works and its long exposure time . Dudik photographed each re-enactor as they laid on a suspended platform , giving the impression they were hovering above the ground . Dudik then climbed up a ladder to access his camera , which was aimed down toward the re-enactor . Once underneath the camera 's `` dark cloth , '' he opened the shutter and captured an image . `` I personally do n't enjoy digital photography that much , '' Dudik said . `` I do n't have anything against it . I think it works marvelously for lots of applications . But for me , I 'm pretty devoted to film for ... the way I work with it ... and the way it looks . '' Dudik , 32 , spent most of his first 16 years growing up on a sheep farm in central Pennsylvania before moving with his family to Maryland . His interest in taking pictures eventually led to college degrees in South Carolina and Georgia . He has been published several times and last year he won the PhotoNOLA Review Prize . Lately , Dudik admits life has become a little crazy , as he juggles teaching at Virginia 's College of William and Mary while helping create the school 's first formal photography program . `` Teaching and being intimately involved in an academic art department is a great inspiration and motivation and it provides an incredible collaborative community , '' Dudik said . `` And I 'm very thankful for that . '' Eliot Dudik is a photographer and professor at the College of William and Mary . You can follow him on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .
Photographer Eliot Dudik 's `` Still Lives '' series features Civil War re-enactors . His images aim to spark conversations about life and death . 2015 marks 150 years since the war 's end .