Michael Massaia grew up in New Jersey, and like many East Coast kids, spent his time hanging out at the shore. The photographer tapped into the electrifying and often frightening moments of his youth in his photo series Afterlife. “At night I would watch both the locals and tourists alike walk the boardwalk, get into fights, and ride the rides I was always too afraid to go on. The environment was always on the brink of becoming completely unhinged, and I wanted nothing more than to be a part of it (but I ultimately never made it beyond a spectator),” he writes on his website.
Ten years after leaving the area, Massaia returned to find his feelings hadn’t changed, and he put the unattainable park attractions in pictures. The artist’s ghostly, black and white images are handmade platinum prints and evoke a moment frozen in time. See more of Massaia’s haunting boardwalk photos in our gallery.
Image credit: Michael Massaia
Image credit: Michael Massaia
Image credit: Michael Massaia
Image credit: Michael Massaia
Image credit: Michael Massaia
Image credit: Michael Massaia
Image credit: Michael Massaia
Image credit: Michael Massaia
Image credit: Michael Massaia
Image credit: Michael Massaia
Image credit: Michael Massaia
Image credit: Michael Massaia