Luxurious 10th Anniversary Edition of ‘The End’ Released

By Brian Cudzilo

The End is back. Michael Dweck’s big, beautiful, photography book The End: Montauk, NY, has been reprinted in a special expanded 10th Anniversary Art Edition Box Set by Ditch Plains Press.

Perhaps the sexiest coffee table book of the year, this special edition of The End has a limited print run of only 300 copies and retails at $3,000. Think of it as an investment. The first edition of 5,000 copies, published in 2004, sold out in less than three weeks and became an instant classic, fueled by its groundbreaking narrative form, and now-iconic images like the cover’s nude, “Sonya,” “Dave and Pam in their Caddy,” “Adriana” and “Lilla.” Its images effortlessly present an idyllic and erotic portrait of the famed Long Island community, offering an idealized glimpse into the lives of the beautiful denizens who comprise the sleepy hamlet’s surfing subculture. Today, first edition copies command as much as $30,000 on the private market.

This expanded edition examines the legacy of the original work, while also addressing the myriad changes Dweck predicted when he first turned his camera to Montauk in early 2000. Of the 275 photographs included, 260 are duotone, made with a special treatment for black and white images that produces exquisite tonal range and density. The 15 color photographs are color-separated and reproduced in the finest technique available, providing unequalled intensity and color range. Also included are 85 previously unpublished photographs, and a reflective essay by Dweck.

The End will appeal to collectors of fine photography who will relish this rare opportunity to own a signed, numbered, limited edition volume. The book, printed and bound in Italy, comes packaged in a handmade, cloth-lined clamshell case with one of three 11” by 14” silver gelatin prints, also signed and numbered. Buyers can chose between “Surf’s Up,” “Adrianna,” or “Lilla”—while they last.

Seen on the coffee tables of A-listers like Ralph and Dylan Lauren, Paul McCartney and Calvin Klein, this rare art collector’s book has been hailed as “the ultimate homage to the sun kissed life.” Critics praise The End for encapsulating “a real world paradise lost of summer youth and erotic possibility.” Dweck’s work blends idealism and documentation to reflect a place and a way of life both fading and being reinvented.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the book will go towards maintaining the waterways and beaches of Long Island and the U.S. through the Surfrider Foundation, Oceana, and Splash.

The End: Montauk, NY, is available for purchase at DitchPlainsPress.com, Home Nature in Southampton or Bloom in Sag Harbor.