Memorial Day weekend marked the unofficial start of summer, as throngs of New Yorkers headed to Coney Island, eager to soak in the inaugural days of beach season. After a particularly long and brutal winter, a few days at the beach seemed especially hard-earned, as the boardwalk filled with the high key neon of bathing suits and towels, sunbathers luxuriated under a spotless blue sky, and the Cyclone whirred to life. I was there, camera in hand, to capture a summer ritual as it began anew.
