Benches of Seaside Heights is photographed in Seaside Heights, NJ, a dilapidated coastal resort best known as the site of MTV’s ‘Jersey Shore’ TV show. Each summer, I candidly photograph the town’s visitors as they relax, eat, and make the best of a day at the beach. I intend to continue this series indefinitely, both as an exploration of human behavior, and a chronicle of Seaside’s visitors over time.

I’ve been going to Seaside since I was too little to walk. It was an uneasy place for a child. Chance games where one could win cartons of cigarettes and Playboy-themed prizes were right next to the child’s games I played, like the frog pop. Fistfights spilled out of stale-stalling bars. I saw slogans on t-shirts that I did not understand, but somehow I understood that they were obscene. I found it very frightening. Nevertheless, Seaside remained a constant of my early years. It was the site of family day trips to the boardwalk, childhood pizza parties, and my first job. It's been a winter running route for the past 23 years, which offers me an intimacy with Seaside that only someone who sees it foot by foot, season by season, can appreciate. During those months, when the only sound from the boardwalk is the cold wooden planks creaking underneath my feet, I feel like I know a different Seaside - quiet and shuttered, but still beautiful in the soft winter light. But I love it in the summertime, too, even though it no longer belongs to me. I feel energized by the crowds and the dance music. Even though I, like most locals, grumble about the traffic and the noise, I take pride in seeing how much the town is enjoyed, how much diversity it draws in from the surrounding areas. I find it much more interesting than my own neighboring beach town, with its quiet shuffle of regular beachgoers. 

On bright summer days, I walk up and down the mile-long boardwalk, and take at least one candid photo of every single occupied bench. I don’t stop to pause, or think, or try to pick the right moment. I look just long enough to ensure that I have a clear shot, take my photo, and move on.

Later on, I view the photos and get to know the people in them. I notice small details that tell stories. - wife giving her husband a mean side eye; two proselytizers wearing t-shirts that say "Why is the world so divided?”; a big tough muscled man with a huge tattoo of an infant’s head on his right bicep. It’s also interesting to note for instance, to how many people wear gold cross necklaces, or Yankees baseball caps (a lot!). I feel that I learn something about my society from viewing these images. I also look forward to seeing how I perceive the same photos when they are decades old, having become a window to another time.