CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 5/26/2018

Celebrate Memorial Day weekend with Joseph Szabo's Jones Beach Lifeguard photos

Featured image is reproduced from Lifeguard, Damiani's new collection of Joseph Szabo's Jones Beach lifeguard photographs made over the last twenty years. "The hard-core lifeguards return decade after decade," Greg Donaldson writes, "like the swallows to Capistrano, because they believe they have the best job on earth. Unlike guards at most California and East Coast beaches, who almost always sit alone, Jones Beach veterans recline on elaborate tiered main stands that accommodate seven or eight guards at once. While the newcomers and weekenders ride the wing stands solo, the full-timers with seniority sit together, study the water, and kibitz. When they make a rescue or catch a good wave on a surfboard or kayak, they do so in front of a jury of old friends. They have such a good time on the job that they often stay for hours after their shift is over and forget to punch out."