Wish You Were Here

Images of Asbury Park, N.J.

“The party’s over.” That’s what my friend said to me 15 years ago. We had just pulled up to the Stone Pony music club late one night for his rock concert. I didn’t understand what he meant until I returned in daylight to find decayed entertainment palaces, gutted hotels, and a sunken boardwalk by the ocean. Though I wasn’t yet a photographer, these images resonated in my mind, and I returned years later with my camera. I stood in the abandoned buildings and tried to imagine the time when Asbury Park was a seaside metropolis…a time when it was called “the jewel of the Jersey Shore.”

As I learned about the history of Asbury Park, I became increasingly interested in its present condition, and I began to photograph the interactions between the people and the landscape. I wanted to put a human face on this forgotten community.  In doing so, I have formed deep connections and personal relationships that keep me coming back.