Truth in Photography Summer 2024
In the beginning of the year, I was frequenting a porn theater on the outskirts of Queens. On my first day there I met a sixty-two-year-old self-proclaimed crossdresser named Veronica and we exchanged numbers. The theater is a big part of her life where she can explore her sexuality. She says people check their emotions at the door. A younger queer male tells me the theater is the only place where you can be yourself. There is no judgement. The space allows both anonymity and privacy from the outside world. The only requirement for entry is fifteen dollars cash at the front door. Veronica lived in the lower east side from the mid 80s to 2004. I asked her if the closure of porn theaters and other public sex sites led to a change in my generation’s sexuality and her response was that the major impact of my generation was September 11th and technology.
Wildwood, a vacation town with architecture like Las Vegas, is located off the last stop on the turnpike in Cape May County. This infamous “Jersey Shore” town has a rate of drug-related crimes higher than the average US city. A lot of kids come down from the AC / Berlin area one hour north and 45 minutes west in Camden County by the Pennsylvania border. The party I pass on the front porch of a two-story beach house is the closest thing to reality television you can get. White panels, metal railing, cheap patio furniture, and three guys wearing Hanes T-shirts. I meet Anthony, AJ, Chris, and his girlfriend Tori. They hauled here from Philadelphia for the summer to work in a restaurant. Their boss pays the rent and they’ve never been happier. Cigarettes for days, booze on the beach. Frozen drinks, sugar, lemon, sunburn, headaches, exhaustion, and sweat, I leave.
The photographs you see here are emotional encounters that reveal what’s beneath a glamorous facade. The images have a sadness. I think about the cracks in our society. Some portraits were taken of strangers in my hometown while retracing the footsteps of my youth while other portraits were taken of people I met while working as an event photographer in New York City. I’ve learned that we all suffer from similar problems.
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