Log in to hire Dale

Dale Rio

Photographer
 
The Borscht Belt
Location: Philadelphia
Nationality: American
Biography: I am a photographic artist whose work explores issues such as mortality, the passage of time, and humanity’s relationship with the natural world. Utilizing film and historic photographic processes, I employ “straight” photography... MORE
Public Story
The Borscht Belt
Copyright Dale Rio 2024
Updated Aug 2015
I have always been fascinated by abandoned places, particularly those that were of great importance in their heyday.  I recently discovered the Borscht Belt, an area of the Catskills that boasted an enormous number of massive, luxury resorts and more modest bungalow communities for much of the 20th century.  It was a place where people from New York City, (particularly Jews), spent their summers, and many great musicians and comedians got their start there.  A number of factors - use of air conditioning, an increase in airplane travel, and a decrease in anti-semitism - contributed to the decline of the Borscht Belt.  Most of the resorts and bungalow communities are abandoned or have been razed, apart from a handful that are still operational, some clinging to life.  It is mind-blowing to think of the sheer number of buildings that once existed in the area and are now gone.
I started making trips to the Borscht Belt to shoot in the winter of 2015 and am collaborating with an historian on a project focusing specifically on the bungalow communities.  We chose this focus because although research exists on the resorts, little has been done in regard to the more humble bungalow communities. 
LinkedIn Icon Facebook Icon Twitter Icon
3,651

Also by Dale Rio —

Story

WIP (Kairos)

Dale Rio
Story

Faces of Conservation

Dale Rio
Story

Loss of Culture

Dale Rio
Story

Look at Me

Dale Rio
Story

Cyanotype Poems

Dale Rio
Story

In Absentia

Dale Rio
Story

The Black Mambas APU

Dale Rio
Story

Reconciliation

Dale Rio
Story

Maasai Olympics

Dale Rio
Story

Forgotten 66

Dale Rio
Story

Band Archive

Dale Rio
Story

Mt. Moriah Cemetery

Dale Rio
Story

Portraits

Dale Rio
Story

Superfund

Dale Rio
Story

One Nation, Oblivious

Dale Rio
The Borscht Belt by Dale Rio
Sign-up for
For more access