Moment: Tova Katzman

© Tova Katzman

Text and image by Tova Katzman

After the airports in Panama finally reopened in September 2020, I made it back home to the place where I grew up in the year-round, working-class community on Martha’s Vineyard. Sitting in my friend's backyard I am reminded of a different pace of life that is shaped by the changing of seasons and ocean tides. Over the years, and especially during the pandemic, this has appealed to an influx of wealthy home buyers, contributing to the island's heightened housing crisis. As we watch Betsy’s boys wrestle over the fading grass and pull the biting deer ticks off their legs, I taste this growing tension, as well as that of the polarity over the looming presidential election.
This image is part of a work in progress I am thinking about whenever I am able to be back home. Having been shaped and nurtured by the island, I feel compelled to photograph a multifaceted Martha’s Vineyard, as its destination reputation is slowly pulling apart at the fabric of local life. 

To see more of Tova’s work visit her website here