Welcome to The Bronx Riviera: Photographs shine spotlight on grit and glamor of the New York City borough's only public beach

By Snejana Farberov

PUBLISHED: 11:07 EST, 2 November 2013 | UPDATED: 19:30 EST, 2 November 2013


Orchard Beach in The Bronx may not be the world’s most glamorous vacation destination, but in the eyes of photographer Wayne Lawrence, the 1.1-mile-long stretch of sand is as classic New York as it gets.  

The Bronx's sole public beach was proclaimed 'The Riviera of New York' when it was created in the 1930s by New York's powerful and controversial city planner Robert Moses.

For the past 80 years, working-class residents of the borough have been coming to the humble man-made beach to escape the oppressive summertime heat of their blighted, crime-riddled neighborhoods.

Urban retreat: For the past 80 years, working-class residents of the borough have been coming to the humble man-made beach to escape from the oppressive summertime heat of their neighborhoods

Urban retreat: For the past 80 years, working-class residents of the borough have been coming to the humble man-made beach to escape from the oppressive summertime heat of their neighborhoods

Stylish: The women in the photos featured in the book are clad in skimpy bikinis and accessorized with bold bracelets and chains

Stylish: The women in the photos featured in the book are clad in skimpy bikinis and accessorized with bold bracelets and chains

Family fun: Wayne Lawrence had spent seven summers shooting glamorous portraits of beach-goers in an effort to challenge the negative stereotypes associated with the infamous beach and its visitors

Family fun: Wayne Lawrence had spent seven summers shooting glamorous portraits of beach-goers in an effort to challenge the negative stereotypes associated with the infamous beach and its visitors

A new book of photographs by Wayne Lawrence called Orchard Beach: The Bronx Riviera, now available on Amazon, thrusts the gritty seaside haven, derided by some as one of New York's worst beaches, back into the spotlight.

While most people do not associate The Bronx with wealth or glitz, Lawrence's portraits of heavily-tattooed sunbathers, frolicking couples and families are deliberately glamorous, celebrating their distinctive personal style.

According to the description of the book, published by Prestel, Lawrence’s goal was to challenge the stereotypes associated with working-class people by celebrating their cultural pride.

Celebrating diversity: The photographer's subjects come in all shapes and sizes, and represent different ethnicities, be it African-Americans, Latinos or Caucasians

Celebrating diversity: The photographer's subjects come in all shapes and sizes, and represent different ethnicities, be it African-Americans, Latinos or Caucasians

Orchard
Inked: The men in the portraits show off their sculpted or lanky torsos that serve as canvasses for body art

Inked: The men in the portraits show off their sculpted or lanky torsos that serve as canvasses for body art

The photographer’s subjects come in all shapes and sizes, and represent different ethnicities, be it African-Americans, Latinos or Caucasians.

Many of the women in the photos featured in the book are clad in swimsuits and revealing bikinis in eye-catching colors and accessorized with bold bracelets and chains.

The men show off their sculpted, muscular torsos that serve as canvasses for body art.

Orchard
Orchard

The ladies of Orchard Beach: Bronx's sole public beach was proclaimed 'The Riviera of New York' when it was created in the 1930s

Fighting stigma: The pictures in the book highlight the humanity of everyday Bronx residents frolicking on the beach with their families

Fighting stigma: The pictures in the book highlight the humanity of everyday Bronx residents frolicking on the beach with their families

Beginning in 2005, Lawrence, a native of the island of St Kitts, spent seven summers documenting the leisure and style of Orchard Beach, known to New Yorkers as a 'hood beach' or 'Horses**t Beach.'

‘I felt like the photographs should reflect the world I live in,’ Lawrence told the New York Post. ‘These are hardworking people trying to live life — but because they’re lower status, they might be considered ghetto. I wanted to create a celebration of that.’ 

 

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Vicky Pollard lives in the Bronx lol

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nice pics , but why don't men wear there trousers/track bottoms and jean were they are suppose too , if bottoms are suppose to be won that far down the hips they would be made with out a waist band , MEN DUNNO HOW TO DRESS ANY MORE

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Wow! The place to be for the Beckhams to show off his 'sculpted' torso!!!

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I liked all the pictures... Very human.

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Nicely staged. Why do people keep trying to pass off deliberate arthouse photography as a representation of real life? I might go down the river and coax an old lady into washing her coat there and send the photo to the DM stating that the recession robbed her of her washing machine.

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That place looks creepier than the circus side show I saw in Warez Mexico.

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Beautiful pictures.

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Beautiful pictures

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stupid comments!

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Hmmm, should I go back to Coronado, California beach or this Bronx beach. Tough choice. I'll have to really think about it. LOL.

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