BY THE WATER
By the Water draws photographs from several projects, all of which meditate on the carefree days of summer.
Beginning in 1996, my family began spending a month each summer near a seaside town on the north coast of Brittany, and I began a project documenting the lives of French families as they vacationed on various beaches. The scenes spoke of another era, with seaside picnics and striped cabanas dotting the beaches. My work there eventually grew into a broader interest in that special combination of energy, humor, and interaction that occurs around water, and I began photographing other seaside locations, from Block Island, Rhode Island and Greers Ferry, Arkansas to Brighton Beach in Brooklyn and Old Orchard Beach in Maine.
The photographs in this series show the intimacy among families, friends, and lovers as they break from their routines and come together at the water.