I left California in 2012, a decision prompted by a too-good-to-pass-up job offer and a mid-life crisis. Settling into an urban life in Brooklyn, I quickly learned that I could hop on the Q train and emerge a short time later at Stillwell Avenue. Coney Island soon became my happy place. A four-season source of visual inspiration and adventure. A welcome respite from city life.

The Coney Island that moves me is New York without the pretension or a high cost of admission. A diverse, quirky, and welcoming community of communities that is a street photographer’s dream come true. These images document two of these communities: The Coney Island Polar Bear Club, an intrepid group of winter swimmers that take the plunge into the cold Atlantic every Sunday afternoon from November through April, and the participants of the annual Mermaid Parade, a celebration that inaugurates the official start of the summer season. Together, they are one photographer’s attempt to honor and commemorate the place and the people that inhabit this unique community.