Traditionally, Bonackers were the working class fisherman that lived for over three hundred years in Springs, an area just north of East Hampton. The name comes from Accabonac Harbor, where these baymen would fish for clams and scallops from Gardiner’s Bay. At one point, Bonackers had their own dialect, which was probably passed down from the English settlers who came from Kent and Dorchester in the early 1600′s. Up until the 1940′s this area had no public transportation and very few automobiles. Mainly a fishing and farming community, people would walk the ten miles into town if necessary from this tight-knit community. We all know how this story ends- here, more than most places in Long Island, a great deal of the local fisherman have been priced out of the area as real estate in the hamptons skyrocketed. However, a few Bonackers still remain, living year-round off of the land and isolating themselves from the summer home community that has overtaken the area. Growing up in Springs, Tara Israel decided to try to document what she could of not just Bonackers but all of the people who live year- round in Springs and East Hampton as way to preserve and honor some of the community and culture she grew up with. The project is very much underway with plans to photograph everyone from fisherman to historians, librarians, local artists and politicians. For the time being, she has a really good start going on with a mix of portraits and landscapes that are a lot more country than glitzy.

Katherine Krause: Why did you want to do this project?
Tara Israel: It started accidentally. I’ve always been a portrait photographer, but had been struggling to find my voice. I was home for winter break and just shot portraits of the people that I was with. My teacher, Joel Sternfeld really encouraged me to look at East Hampton on a deeper level, both as a supportive professor and as someone who took a few months to understand what I was trying to say. It was then that I realized how hard it was for viewers to step away from whatever concept of the “Hamptons” they may have and actually look at the stories reflected in this body of work as just people from a small town. There is a whole history that exists here separate from the seasonal community so it is quite frustrating to see that phenomenon shape every conversation and serve as the point in which everything else orbits around. There is a reason that most people from the East End will just tell strangers that they are from Long Island and not name a specific town. It has been much easier to just avoid the conversation because most people don’t understand.

Katherine: What does Bonacker mean to you?
Tara: A true, true Bonacker is related to someone in a family that a street named after them in East Hampton or Springs. They are the families that are mentioned in every local history book- the Lesters, Talmages, Kings, Bennetts, Barnes’, etc. The families that built the town and still run it. Many have lost their livelihood because of environmental and legislative changes, forcing them to move away or exist as a pretty closed community. Many new families, mine included, have come in and changed things. To be a Bonacker is a birthright, and I guess technically you need to have been born there. I was born at Southampton Hospital, however I’m still not entirely deserving of the title because my family is from elsewhere. That’s where the title of my project “(a)Bonac” came from. I’m local but also not. I’m a Bonacker, but also not (using the “a-” prefix). Everywhere and nowhere. I feel like the most public exploration of a Bonacker was in Men’s Lives by Peter Matthiessen. Many of the family compounds that Matthiessen mentioned in his book still exist, but not like how I understand them to have been when I was a child/ when the book was published.

Katherine: Do you think the summer community knows this other community exists?
Tara: Its not “this other community” -it is the community. My stepmom was a lawyer. She was in a meeting with some other lawyers in Nassau County one winter years ago. Before it began they were all making small talk and one of the lawyers started to talk about an article he read in the New York Times. He turned to her and asked if we got the Times “out there”. Jokingly she replied, “Yes, but a day late.” The other lawyer said “well when you read about this tomorrow…”. He totally believed her. Based on that story I don’t think most people understand what this town is. Heck, I feel like I’m only just beginning to understand it and I’ve lived here my entire life.

Katherine: What’s your favorite fun historical fact abot East Hampton you’d like to share?
Tara: I could go on and on about Pussy’s Pond in Springs, which is the location of the fresh water springs that my beloved hamlet is named after. Instead I want you to look up Hugh King. He taught local history at Springs School and also ran the Academic Enrichment Program there forever. He has retired from the school as people do and has devoted his life to town history and is the official Town Crier. Because of Mr. King I actually spent a summer in my early 20s giving tours at Hook Mill. It is because of him I know why Newtown Lane is so wide and why there are those wacky steps into the graveyards in town (both have to do with livestock). Everyone who grew up in Springs or East Hampton has a fantastic story about Mr. King. I want everyone to google “Hugh King” and envy every child that went through the local public school system when he was a teacher. Everyone I’ve shot that had him as a teacher still remembers something he said or did going back 20 years. Captain Kidd also buried treasure on Gardiner’s Island. I was given a tour of the island by Lyon Gardiner himself before he passed and he made sure to point out where it happened. There’s a plaque at the site. According to some book I read about the Hook Mill written a million years ago when I gave tours there the wood for the mill was (I quote) “floated over from Gardiners Island by two Indians and a Negro named Shemp.” Its all full circle.

Katherine: Where do you see this community headed in ten years or twenty years?
Tara: Who knows. I can say that its important for us to celebrate our local history and be proud of what we have gone through- good and bad- as a community. Even those who move away when they turn 18 this town made us who we are. Be proud.

Katherine: Do you think the fishing and clamming industry is doomed for the east end?
Tara: BP fucked us all. The commercial industry has been struggling for a while, both because of complicated tensions with ever changing laws and because of the economy, and environmental issues have only made this worse. Time will only tell how the oil catastrophe will affect this. Local farming is a separate conversation as that gets into inheritance tax, etc. There are fewer commercial operations, many turning to charter ventures. What I’ve been more exposed to personally is how it affects sport/ subsistence fishing. I do think that because of pollution and strict laws it will become more difficult to engage in fishing that way. There is a very high quality of life right now because many people know how to live off of local farms, gardens, hunting and fishing. Hopefully that will remain. I grew up near a commercial dock owned by my neighbors who often would give us fish that people would catch that day and gift to them. Recently there has been a lot of local fish gracing my plate caught by friends. There has been an active movement to revive the farming community, but so many things have affected big and small scale fishing operations. Erosion, pollution, climate change- all are very real concerns for the town. The East End is blessed to have had brilliant people like Larry Penny working on environmental issues for the town, but a million Larry Pennys can’t fix what BP did or climate change and what that may mean for our waters in the very near future. The industry is still an industry- boats still go out for both short and long trips. There will always be a demand for everything from bass to lobster to tuna to shellfish. It is just the complicated nature of an economy that is burdened by the weight of environment issues and legislation. As much as it is about the potential loss of an industry, it is also the potential loss of a tradition that has been passed down from generations. I recently stopped into the Marine Museum in Amagansett- a place I haven’t been since I was a child- and have been thinking about it ever since. As much as the industry has faded, it is equally worth discussing what it means to individual families who have bonded over fishing together or clam bakes. The thought that that it could all together vanish is distressing. It’s not dead yet though. Buy local fish or go out on charter boats and catch your own fish. You have people like the Vegessi sisters in Montauk that operate Lady Bones, following the tradition of their fathers boat Lazy Bones. Support your local fisherman.

Katherine: You mentioned this project, on a personal level was a way of giving back or making an amends to your town- do you care to elaborate on that?
Tara: I’ve gone around the world trying to “find myself” and I realized that I was here the whole time. I spent my youth rebelling against god knows what. Its a small town thing but I had this resentment that the reason I couldn’t get away was because the town was holding me back. In reality nothing was holding me back- I actually just didn’t want to be anywhere else. Just like the most loving family, you make mistakes and you take them for granted, but you have that luxury because they’re not going anywhere. This project is reaching out to the community that in one way or another really helped me overcome the obstacles I made for myself. I spent years apologizing for my mistakes. Now thats out of the way I’m finding it just as therapeutic to show gratitude via celebrating this magical town. I went to the East Hampton High School senior banquet one year and a kid in the limo made the toast “may the bridges we burn light the way to a brilliant future.” I never forgot that. I’ve burned all sorts of bridges over my lifetime, however I’ve worked hard and worked from the heart. I have never felt pressure to conform how I live my life yet I feel that I have been accepted, as have been my amends. This is a pretty accepting and forgiving place.

Katherine: Who are some of the people you plan on photographing?
Tara: I’m still very much connected to the people I grew up with, so I’ve just been shooting the people that are around. I’m starting to reach out to people that I may have lost touch with but were a large part of my youth and also people that represent the history of the town as a whole. I can explain all of these things but it isn’t until I show the images to people that they understand what I’m talking about. This will go on for at least another year or so- probably forever- but in the next few weeks I have shoots lined up with a bunch of people I grew up with, both true Bubs (Bonackers) and and locals by birth in the same first-generation boat as me. Some are working for the town, others are in the arts, running businesses, working for the schools, finishing up graduate degrees or dealing with changes to the local economy. A lot of people have pursued some really remarkable projects that I’ve been really excited to learn about, such as I-Tri Girls in East Hampton which is run by Allyson Follenius that is working on addressing issues faced by most teenage girls by training them to compete in triathlon.

Katherine: Is there anyone you would love to shoot for this project, if so- who?
Tara: I want to shoot the people of the Springs and East Hampton Fire Departments. It is a volunteer operation so in addition to everything else they have going on in their lives they volunteer to risk their lives for the town, as often did their parents. It is particularly challenging because of the nature of the calls they get- car fires caused by summer people not knowing how to drive on the beach, electrical issues in the older homes, etc. There are also a few local businesses that still exist as key points of my youth, like One-Stop and Barnes Store. I wish I had shot Lyon Gardiner before he passed. Hugh King is also at the top of my list- I’m just waiting to hear back from him. There was also this one janitor at the East Hampton Middle School- I don’t know his story but I’m obsessed with him. I see him driving around town and it always makes my day. All the kids loved him because he was such a nice guy. I swear I’m not actually a creep- its just what happens in a small town. You remember the most random things.

Katherine: Being born and raised here and now living in Manhattan- do you think you will ever come back to live out here full time?
Tara: I’ve always referred to the East End as “home.” I live in NYC but East Hampton is home. The idea of raising a family anywhere else seems just crazy to me. The history, the people, the resources, the opportunities, the schools… there needs to be a very good reason for my future not to bring me back to where it began. I was told years ago to be wary of compartmentalizing identity and a few people hiding behind the label of organized religion. We seek ways to put the ocean in a box. Ultimately the day comes when you have to choose between the ocean and the box. Often we are limited by the labels or practices we’ve adopted and we are forced to pick the box. I was told to always pick the ocean. East Hampton is my ocean.