Coney Island Queen
By the summer of 2023, I had finally moved to Los Angeles after waiting nearly three years for my work visa. Unfortunately, this adventure was short-lived, as six months later I had to leave California to settle on the East Coast.
Moving twice in such a short space of time wasn’t part of the plan, and I saw this upheaval as a real personal failure.
The first few months there were difficult, but when spring arrived, it gave me the breath of fresh air and change of perspective I needed. This second wind opened a new door for me, leading to a light I hadn’t even suspected existed.
So I decided to go out. To explore the city. To try and get to know New York, even though I had absolutely no idea where to start. And then the sticky heat of summer guided me: I would go to Coney Island.
I never imagined for a moment that this simple decision would reshape my life. As soon as I stepped out of the tube, everything overwhelmed me: the colours, the voices, the smells, the sea in the distance. It was as if life were opening its arms to me, unconditionally.
That’s what I love about Coney Island: you think you know what you’re going to find there, but you never know what’s going to move you. Always children running, patient fishermen, dancing Puerto Ricans, thieving seagulls, laughing tourists, snakes draped around necks… And Nathan’s famous hot dogs, as timeless as the summer sky.
Coney is also a historically inclusive place; circus freaks and the queer community have long been welcomed and protected there. Even the Nathan’s franchise was born here, with the idea of feeding the crowds at affordable prices during the boom in paid holidays in the United States. I deeply love this coexistence, all these communities that cross paths, mix, and accept one another. After all, at the beach, everyone is equal.
Like a junkie craving human connection, I returned to Coney weekend after weekend, to photograph all these lives, never having enough film in my bag.
A few hundred photos later, the Coney Island Queen series was born. And I had finally found a place where I felt at home, even on the other side of the world.
