Behind the Lens: Jumping In with Corey Hendrickson

Photo by Corey Hendrickson

Photo by Corey Hendrickson

Photo by Corey Hendrickson

The Story:

The images above are from Corey’s series “Jump,” an ongoing personal project inspired by the classic Vermont summer ritual of flocking to the state’s swimming holes. “The Jump series came about from traveling around the state for assignments. Usually when you see a bunch of cars pulled off on the side of the road that means a place to swim,” he explains.

These particular images, shot on the New Haven and Winooski River, all depict swimming spots that have since been affected by recent environmental change or damage: the oak tree from which the rope swing once hung has since died; the New Haven River was severely altered by Hurricane Irene; and the jumping spot has since been filled with gravel and material from upstream erosion. Corey says, “In general I am drawn towards documenting material that I feel won’t be around for much longer.” Although in this case, it was completely coincidental.

While shooting the swimming holes, Corey was inspired by the kids and adults of all ages who get together to jump into the river. He describes the scene:“It’s not uncommon to see multiple generations sharing a laugh as they coerce each other into taking a leap. I think there is also something beautiful in the simplicity of it all, people congregating in the streams to cool off. It makes me feel fortunate to live in Vermont, where most of the watersheds are carefully managed.”

This summer Corey wanted to switch it up a bit and decided to shoot everything with strobes. “I frequently use little side projects (like this) to work on a new look or just to experiment and have fun.”

Corey travels all over the New England area for wedding clients, and is looking forward to taking some time off this November. See the rest of his Jump series here and his wedding work here.

What caught our eye:

Simply put, there could not be a better ode to the summer time than old fashion swimming holes. Corey has mastered capturing the beauty of the scenery, the light bouncing off the water, and the surge of energy everyone feels right before they jump.