Archive of Long Island Nude Beach Photographs

[New York]: 1979 and 1980.

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Unbound. Over 1000 different color snapshot images of beachgoers on a very crowded Long Island beach in 1979 and 1980. Each image is approximately 3.5" x 5". Virtually all are on Kodak paper and date stamped on the back. Condition is generally near fine or better, several have remnants from having been mounted in an album, perhaps a couple of dozen have wear or staining on the emulsion, but are still easily viewable.

There is no obvious evidence of exactly where the beach was, but someone more familiar with Long Island beaches would probably be able to determine that, the products, t-shirts (including one for Plato's Retreat, another for the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics), regional beers, and other clues (frisbee advertising Niagara Falls, a Concorde in the air, etc.) strongly suggest a New York City-area beach, presumably on Long Island, and possibly Jones Beach. The very crowded and not particularly tidy beach was presumably clothing optional as a majority (but not all) of the sun worshippers are either partially or fully naked. The photographer seemed particularly interested in the female form. The candid images suggest that many who were happy to be photographed, with a few looking at least mildly annoyed by the attention, and a few more intimate shots that were presumably taken surreptitiously. Apparently the beach was something of a phenomenon, as a few shots show photographers, a television crew, a (possibly news) helicopter, and a boatload of gawkers on the outskirts of the beach, as well as a mounted policeman.

The crowd represents a broad cross section of the population: racially, economically, age-wise, and by sexual orientation, although the ratio of images of affectionate lesbians seems a little inordinate to the rest of the images - presumably for the titillation of the (almost certainly male) photographer. Additionally there are a modest number of heterosexual affection on display, although in very few or perhaps even none of the cases do the affections displayed seem strictly pornographic.

In any event a very interesting time capsule-type cross section of a clothing optional beach in Long Island definitively dated to 1980, the year of Abscam, the beginning of the presidency of Ronald Reagan, and the death of John Lennon.


Item #398348

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Item #398348 Archive of Long Island Nude Beach Photographs