Saying Good-Bye to Shoreham, New York
This past summer we went back to Shoreham, New York to say good-bye. After spending countless summers on Long Island, this time our task was to help my parents-in-law move out of their home of 50 years as they were finally relocating to California to be closer to their sons and families.
Between sorting through boxes of keepsakes and unearthing historical artifacts, I took the time to document their home, the community and life in Long Island and New York. As an immigrant, my whole identity is based on leaving home and having a more nebulous sense of what home means. I wanted to explore what it would feel like to have deep roots in one place for more than half a century and capture slices of that life so that my in-laws could relive these memories from a different coast.
// Shot on a Nikon FG-20, Holga, Contax T2 and a 1962 Olympus Pen-D2
Their backyard and our favorite spot, the covered porch aka “the Cosmotorium.”
Playing in the front yard.
Down the driveway.
The back door.
John’s Beach taken with a vintage 1962 Olympus Pen-D2 half frame camera we found in the basement.
John’s Beach on family night.
John’s Beach
Gus, Uncle Trevor + The Big Duck - Flanders, New York
Fourth of July is a big celebration for the community of Shoreham. Every year, they have a parade where the neighbors decorate their cars and the kids dress up and walk down the main street to the community center at John’s Beach. The mayor will give a speech and other community leaders will say something before everyone is treated to free hot dogs, sodas and ice cream.
On the evening of July Fourth, everyone heads down to John’s Beach for music, drinks and fireworks.
We also spent some evenings down at Wading River Beach. (Featuring the defunct Shoreham Nuclear Power Station.)
And of course, we did a quick 24 hour visit into Manhattan where we visited the Museum of Natural History, the Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center before heading back on the Long Island Railroad.
