HABTATION
I’ve spent my entire life enjoying the East Chop Beach Club, going down the waterslide and hunting for hermit crabs. I made good friends that I have known for more than 10 years. Now, we’re too old to take part in the swim races or play in the ping-pong room. Instead, we’re the cool lifeguards and the guys who get to make the milkshakes. The Beach Club looks different now, the diving board isn’t as high, the milkshakes aren’t as tasty, and the members are more racist. I’ve seen these spaces in a new light, and realized we inhabit them differently than we used to. A hundred yards down the sand past the fence, we listen to music, sing, and enjoy the sunset, but most nights I long to go back to seeing the beach club as a utopia like I did when I was young. I used Adobe Lightroom to edit the photos.
CROSS-EXAMINATION: This is the first photograph within the tryptic, because it draws the viewer in with a strong diagonal. I used Lightroom to edit each photo within the triptych. The model’s eyes are covered, offering him a new perspective on the scene. He sees a once pristine and now dirty Nike shoe, reminding the viewer that all good things must come to an end. The different tones of blue create a somber note as my friends and I reminisce about the beach.
LEVITATION: A new way I use the beach club is to manifest. I spent each night with my friends and I walked to the tower, the Jetty, at the beach, and down a rock wall in the water. Every 11:11, we played a favorite song and manifested for our goals and desires. I like to think our power in numbers and the tower magnified our joint energy and levitated us to a higher level. Light blues and grays adds an ethereal feeling to the vignette. It captures our mindsets in the moment. The almost pitch-black background behind the very bright focal point also reflects how our brains look manifesting intentionally. The Jetty’s poles beam up from the ocean but are grounded in a steady rock foundation, similar to the beams of energy that emanate our hopes and dreams. The blue in everyone’s clothing reveals our undeniable unity, and the ways we join together, focused in the moment.
MANIFESTATION: I took this photo with a timer during 11:11. I think it captures our thoughts in the moment. The grainy quality combined with the soft glow all around makes the photograph look as if it were a dream or a fuzzy memory. The photo also displays how tired we all are by the end of the night because the model looks exhausted. The pole on the left shows the separation between the manifesting minute and the aftermath. All the diagonals send the viewer off, after looking at the triptych. Concluding with singing and dancing on the beach, the night comes to an end with a moment to reflect and look forward toward our dreams and aspirations within our lives. This photo closes the triptych revealing how we end our nights at the East Chop Beach Club.
2020, 15x7 ft. Triptych, Photography
