The Ditch

Nat Ward’s timeless photographs of Montauk’s most famous beach, Ditch Plains, tell the naked, unedited stories of who we are when the sand is a stage: sensual beings, social creatures, dramatic actors, those who want and wish to be wanted, those who look, and those who wish to be looked at. Featuring forty-nine panoramic photographs, Ditch: Montauk, New York, 11954 revels in a place where pleasure is paramount, divisions disappear, and everyone is welcome to crowd in together on the sand and stare, however impolite it may be. Legendary musician Rufus Wainwright and his husband Jörn Weisbrodt as well as writer Wayne Koestenbaum contribute heartfelt essays. Stumbling down a makeshift path through a sand cliff in 2018, Ward found the crowded, raucous reality of Ditch Plains, Montauk’s most famous surf beach. It’s a place where families, surfers, retirees, artists and writers, social media influencers, contractors, landscapers, celebrities, and day traders all crush together on the rocky s