The inglorious urban surf

Devoted New York surfers endure winter storms, suffocating wetsuits, and weeks of mediocre waves just to catch that rare big break

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On the Jetty, 2005.
(Image credit: Susannah Ray)
(Image credit: (Susannah Ray))

(Image credit: (Susannah Ray)Photographer Susannah Ray's surf pocket is on the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens, where she lives with her husband and 5-year-old daughter. A college photography teacher by trade,)

(Image credit: (Susannah Ray)Ray's resulting series, Right Coast, delights in the inglorious makeshift culture of East Coast surfing. Through her lens, apocalyptic landscapes — a dusting of snow on a desola)

(Image credit: (Susannah Ray)"Surfing here is really a measure of dedication to the sport because the effort-to-reward ratio is kind of low," she said. "If you really wanna surf, you have to be willing to p)

(Image credit: (Susannah Ray))

(Image credit: (Susannah Ray))

(Image credit: (Susannah Ray))

(Image credit: (Susannah Ray))

(Image credit: (Susannah Ray))

(Image credit: (Susannah Ray))

Flea Bungalow, Winter, 2005. (Susannah Ray)

(Image credit: (Susannah Ray)**For more of Susannah Ray's work, visit her website. Her latest series, A Further Shore, will be published by Hoxton Mini Press and exhibited at the Bronx Museum of Art later t)

Kelly Gonsalves
Kelly Gonsalves

Kelly Gonsalves is a sex and culture writer exploring love, lust, identity, and feminism. Her work has appeared at Bustle, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, and more, and she previously worked as an associate editor for The Week. She's obsessed with badass ladies doing badass things, wellness movements, and very bad rom-coms.

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