Montauk by Michael Dweck

Dweck happens to be something of an islander in spirit, raised as he was on Long Island, New York. He has a profound sense of place and community, and his work is thus usually situated in a vivid geographic and social context. The Montauk series captures this island vibe while combining the childish and playful nature of youth.

Michael Dweck is a visual artist known for his seductive photographic style and pursuit of alluring subject matter, principally the female form and locales that offer their own particular enchantments. His developing narrative of a somewhat upended version of the theme Paradise Lost and Regained would favor privilege, youth, beauty, and the temptations of the flesh, although the photographic project at once records and fictionalizes what is inevitably receding and thus ever elusive.

His first major photographic work was published in 2004 in volume form as The End: Montauk, N.Y. (Abrams), and portrays the old fishing community of Montauk and its surfing subculture, at the very end of Long Island, as far away from New York City as is geographically possible. It is an evocation of a real-world paradise lost: of summer, youth, and erotic possibility; of community and camaraderie in a special place apart — an American version of the Arcadian vision. Blending nostalgia, fantasy, and documentation the photographs present a compelling portrait of a place in time and a way of life at once fading and being reinvented with each new season. These photographs were featured in several exhibitions and art fairs over the next couple of years.