Alluring Photos of Lifeguards at New York’s Jones Beach

Lifeguards hold an almost mythological place in society. ”Superheroes of the beach” and “gods of the water” are just some of the nicknames they’ve attracted, while their image – of sun-kissed skin, washboard abs and red swim shorts – has been seared into the public imagination through the likes of Baywatch. But what’s the reality?

Joe Szabo, a photographer and photography teacher, spent over two decades capturing the lifeguards of New York’s Jones Beach. He discovered the place in the mid-60s and became friends with its lifeguards and, after some time, began photographing them. The resultant images, which are being published in a book titled Lifeguard, out this month, provide a stunning documentation of these people, the work they do and the sense of community they enjoy.

Here, alongside an exclusive preview from this book, Szabo tells us more.

“Lifeguard is a book of documentary-style photographs taken at New York’s Jones Beach, between 1990 and 2015. It all began when I first discovered Jones Beach in the late 1960s and began taking photos of people who came there. I soon became acquainted with the lifeguards and gradually came to know them as friends.

They had serious responsibility for all visitors who came to this ocean beach. I respected them as individuals who had spent so much time and effort training to become a lifeguard. I loved seeing them work, and their camaraderie. And I was struck by their skill and determination to keep everyone safe, especially those who didn’t respect the power of the ocean.

I loved spending time taking photographs of the people and lifeguards at Jones Beach, especially Field #4 because it’s the centerpiece of Jones Beach, which is over six miles long and attracts around six million people each year. I chose to photograph there because it has the most variety of people and I’ve gotten to know the guards best there because of their openness and friendliness towards me.

The most heroic thing a lifeguard told me was this. It was the end of the summer season, most of the lifeguards had gone but a few stayed around. All of a sudden one of the guards noticed a person way out in the ocean... in a red flag area (where there’s no swimming allowed). Immediately the off-duty guards rushed in and rescued the person who was drowning. If the guards had not stayed around that person would most certainly have drowned.”

Joseph Szabo is represented by the Michael Hoppen Gallery in London.

Buy a copy of Lifeguard here.