ABOUT

The identities of towns along the East coast are rapidly changing. While small farmers and watermen were once the center of economy, tourism has taken over. A divide grows between older generations, who prefer “the way it was”, and youth looking for new things to do.

These are images from my hometown of Chincoteague Island, Virginia and similar coastal towns in North and South Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, and Florida. In the twelve years I lived there, I watched how the dilapidating old way of life increasingly clashed with modern kitsch. Hotels and a waterpark replaced marshland and family businesses. Older buildings sat to rot.

East Coast locals depend on tourism to survive, but overly assert their claim to belong more than visitors. Be it a family on vacation, an out of townsurfer, or anyone not born on the island (like me), the “Come-Here” could never be “From-Here”. These photos capture the clash between the old ways, the modernization of small East Coast towns, and the coastal cultures that fit in between.