“Down by the Hudson” is a photographic project I began in 2013 while studying at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. It centers on a creek just outside town—tucked behind a drive-in movie theater—where people gather during the summer to swim, spend time together, and momentarily step outside the pressures of daily life. I’ve been photographing there regularly for over a decade.
The work looks at how natural, unregulated space can open up new ways of relating to one another. Though technically off-limits due to county restrictions, the watering hole functions as a spontaneous commons—where people from different backgrounds come together and let their guard down. It’s a modest space, but one that allows for unexpected moments of joy, calm, and connection. I’m drawn to its quiet utopian qualities—not idealized, but open.
I make the photographs in collaboration with the people I meet there. Some relationships span years; others last an afternoon. I often direct or compose the image in dialogue with the person I’m photographing. The work is grounded in mutual respect, curiosity, and a desire to represent the space and the people in it with care and complexity.
I’m especially interested in how the environment shapes behavior—how water, in particular, invites a kind of looseness and vulnerability. The photographs often explore how masculinity shifts in this space: how it softens, plays, and reveals itself in unguarded moments. At the same time, the work reflects on the larger social and political landscape of post-industrial towns like Poughkeepsie—places shaped by both struggle and resilience.
Now, after more than a decade, the project is nearing completion. A monograph is in development, and upcoming solo exhibitions are planned in New York and London.
