Where the Amish Vacation
© Dina LitovskyEvery winter, Amish and Mennonite travelers from all over the United States, travel to Pinecraft, a small community in Sarasota, Florida. Starting out as a tourist camp in the 1920s, it has since become a popular vacation spot. Jokingly dubbed “Amish Las Vegas”, Pinecraft is a unique place where all different denominations of Anabaptist escape the winter together and mingle amongst each other. The usual rules are a bit looser, turning a blind eye to the use of cell phones, cameras and bicycles while encouraging recreational activities.
Christmas in July // National Geographic
© Dina LitovskyPublished in July 2016 for National Geographic, photographer Dina Litovsky captured the "World’s Largest Santa Convention" in Branson, Missouri. Her photo essay documents hundreds of professional Santas and Mrs. Clauses participating in summer workshops, parades, and social events, highlighting the surreal, humorous contrast of holiday cheer in 90-degree heat.
Meatpacking
© Dina LitovskyEvery weekend night, the cobblestone streets of the Meatpacking District are transformed into a microcosm of sexual politics. The rules that govern the city during the day are suspended; the act of looking, concealed in the daytime, is brazenly celebrated. Women, navigating the jagged streets in high heels, are confident of their presentation but unsteady in their step. A barrage of compliments and whistles accompanies them as they make their way through the space.The formerly gritty, working-class neighborhood that used to be known for its dynamic gay nightlife and transgender sex workers, has metamorphosed into an ostentatious, high-gloss carnival for the young, single and heterosexual. While the Meatpacking District’s seedy history of fetish houses and leather bars may have been erased by fashionable nightclubs, the area remains a sexual playground, offering a fascinating glimpse of contemporary romance.
Prabal Gurung
© Dina LitovskyCommissioned work for Prabal Gurung featuring backstage and portraits of celebrities at the Met Gala
Fashion Lust
© Dina LitovskyFor decades, Fashion Week has been the ultimate, highly exclusive pageant for the fashion aristocracy. Held twice a year in Paris, Milan, New York, and London, its visibility has exploded in recent years with the skyrocketing prevalence of digital cameras and fashion blogs — giving the general public access to this previously private event. Through live social media coverage of the runways, the audience at home has become the new front row VIPs.Photographed over four seasons, Fashion Lust dismantles the carefully packaged and highly indulgent viral fashion image. The images investigate the scene where the expertly constructed image of guests rivals the air-brushed glamour of the actual show. With photographers often outnumbering models backstage and front-row guests, the appetite to see and be seen seemingly extends to everyone finding themselves in the closed, hectic space of blinding flashes and surveillance-style Instagramming.
