*Call Me By Your Name, 2018, Rockaway Beach* © Erica Reade

Interview By Yzabella Zari

Yzabella Zari: Was ‘Beach Lovers’ intentional at first or was the opportunity presented to you while casually visiting the beach?

Erica Reade: Beach Lovers was a happy accident. I was enjoying the first few days of sun in late May 2015 when I looked up from my towel and spotted a couple happily entwined. The woman was sleeping peacefully in her partner’s arms while he read a book. Something about their hot limbs glistening in the sun, the way he was reading the book and holding her in the heat, and hearing the ocean waves captured my attention. I took a photo on my Canon AE-1 camera, from where I was lying on my towel and it made me smile. I decided to take a few more couples at the beach to finish that roll of film, trying not to be noticed by anyone as I did this but incredibly excited by my new mission.

Once I developed that first roll of film, I was thrilled with the results. Beach Lovers was then born; and some of those very first images are included in my upcoming book. I was immediately transfixed with the idea of finding lovers at the beach, and continued from then on more intentionally to document them.

*Ageless, 2015, Fort Tilden Beach* © Erica Reade

YZ: What can you say to other creatives who are having trouble overcoming artist block?

ER: I love this question. Beach Lovers actually happened at a moment when I was experiencing an incredible amount of artist block. I was feeling incredibly discouraged with the direction of my work. The year prior, I had been taking photos at the beach for months, and nothing was really inspiring me. My photos lacked something. I decided to attend a portfolio review for some feedback, and was told, “There’s nothing remarkable about your photos.” I was crushed and I almost wanted to quit photography at that moment. I’m very glad I didn’t.

Beach Lovers (and my newer series Reflected) happened when I wasn’t trying or looking to make work. I realize that may sound like a cop-out for an answer, but it’s when I was most desperate to have a project, to create something, to know what I stood for that my work felt the most stuck and stagnant. The harder I tried, the more blocked I felt. I wanted to prove the portfolio reviewer wrong and nothing was happening. It wasn’t until I took a day off work to enjoy the beginning of summer and clear my mind that my project finally took root.

So, my advice to other creatives experiencing any type of artist block would be to very simply take a step back and take a break. Be ok with not making work for a few days or even weeks. Forgive yourself for that. Focus on other creative talents or hobbies one might have for a short while. I also try to live creatively in all aspects of my life; whether yoga, meditation, cooking, being in nature as much as possible. These always feed my creative process and get me ready to create new work.

*When His Friends Aren't Looking, 2016, Rockaway Beach* © Erica Reade

YZ: Are you a romantic? What kind of emotions or feelings did you encounter while documenting this series, being surrounded by lovers and friends?

ER: Yes, I would undoubtedly say that I am a romantic, and I have been my whole life.

I realize we are fed a lot of harmful or cliche narratives about love and romance that set unrealistic or unhealthy expectations. But beyond those, I’ve always found real beauty in the way people who love each other express their feelings towards each other.

Taking photos every summer of people showing love and affection to each other always warmed me up inside, and evoked very strong or vivid emotions. The way I’ve seen couples lovingly put sunscreen on the other; brush sand off someone’s back; carry someone laughing into the waves; it really restored my faith in people and in love during times I didn’t have much.

I only admitted this to myself in 2020, and then more publicly about the series, that I realized I was documenting something that I also wanted to find for myself; a loving companion to go to the beach with. When I began the series, I was very unhappy in an unhealthy relationship at the time, and I think I was taking photos of happier couples to let myself know something else was possible. Sometimes the photos made me sad, other times incredibly moved, but I was always inspired. Once I had the strength to be on my own, the photos took on even more meaning for me personally; looking at the ways couples shared their lives together at the beach, it could be tangible for me one day. And it’s a really beautiful thing to witness, especially in NY. The beach is the one place I’ve seen people truly let their guard down in NY and express themselves in ways they might not in other public settings.

I was a romantic before I started the project, and I think with the book coming out and a better understanding of real love in my life, I’m even more of one.

*Your Salty Skin, 2018, Rockaway Beach* © Erica Reade

YZ: You have worked on this project for years. Reflecting back, was there anything you would have changed about the project from start to finish? And how did you know it was finished?

ER: Looking back on the project, I actually don’t think there’s much I’d change. It was one of the first times in my life that I allowed myself the time to develop a strong body of work I was proud of. Every summer I knew I wanted to capture as broad and deep a collection of interactions and intimacies as I could. I spent a lot of time garnering feedback for the project; in my photography collective, with mentors, at open calls for submission. Beach Lovers took exactly the time it needed to get to where it is today.

I’m not sure I’ll ever be truly “finished” or done with the series as I’m a lifelong beach-goer. I spend as much time by the ocean as possible and I always have a camera with me; I think I’ll always enjoy taking photos of couples and lovers at the beach.

However, I did feel a small internal ‘click’ when I knew I was ready to make the book, towards the end of 2020. After a pandemic summer of cautiously taking photos at the beach, I took a real look at the images I had taken over the years, I knew I was ready then to share this with the world. And finally, I followed that summer by taking a “Making the Photographic Book” workshop at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops that really set me on the right track.

YZ: When can we expect the book to be out to the public?

ER: The book will be out the first week of June, available in stores and online, and in a number of events I’ll be hosting this year.

If you’re in NY, I’ll be hosting a talk and exhibition June 16th at Foley Gallery in the Lower East Side from 7-9PM, and a talk and book launch party at the Rockaway Hotel Thursday June 30th.

*Headstand High, 2017, Fort Tilden Beach* © Erica Reade

YZ: Describe your creative process in one word.

ER: Evolving

YZ: If you could teach a one-hour class on anything, what would it be?

ER: While I am by no means an expert or waste-free myself, I’d love to teach a workshop on living as waste- and plastic-free as possible.

YZ: What was the last book you read or film you saw that inspired you?

ER: Two friends of mine premiered their film Grain in Fall 2021 about film photography, and it was wonderful. It inspired me to make even more film work once again.

YZ: How do you take your coffee?

ER: Very strong with a dash of oat milk