Spring Broke

by Steve Appleford, Evan Wright (Introduction), Nathaniel Welch (Photographer)

“When I first saw the pictures from my older brother’s spring break, and seen his videos, I went, ‘Damn, that’s sweet. I gotta go down there.’ And I get down there and that’s what it’s girls flashing you for beads or whatever. If a girl doesn’t like the taste of beer, they do a beer bong, and they drink the whole beer in two or three seconds. They know there’s not going to be any consequences, nobody’s going to find out about it. They’re more likely to cheat on their boyfriends, or just hook up with whoever. You don’t even see them the next day. It’s pretty much an understanding. Nobody’s down there for a relationship.”
—Anonymous Spring Breaker

Caligula would have understood the depraved decadence and desperate frenzy of spring break—American teens’ annual pilgrimage to shimmering shores, where sex on the beach is as much an afternoon activity as it is a fruity cocktail. A festival of sun and sin, of tanned flesh and binge drinking, spring break attracts thousands of high school and college students, who wash up on Florida’s shores like schools of breeding salmon, ready to indulge their insatiable appetites and hedonistic desires with total strangers.

A native Floridian, photographer Nathaniel Welch has been documenting these rites of passage for four years—and has captured scenes of agony and ecstasy in Spring Broke , his first monograph. Whether it’s partying at a kegger on the beach or engaging in group sex in the shower, entering a wet T-shirt contest or passing out on the bathroom floor, these teens’ uninhibited impulses are as absurd as they are disturbing. Yet Welch accepts, and even embraces, these raunchy rituals of extreme adolescence, allowing a strange sense of sadness to pervade. The morning after, broken spirits are left to reflect on their senseless acts, pack their bags, and head home. They say children are the future. Brace yourself.

Genres: Nonfiction, Photography

120 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2004

Reviews

[Michael Lindgren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strange and crazy art photo book from this young Rolling Stone photographer who "embedded" himself within the throngs of beer- and lust-crazed teens who flock to Florida every March. The photos are not for the faint of heart: people vomiting, making out, a lot of flabby, tattooed, sunburned flesh. In their derangement and oddly poignant lack of approbation, these photos comprise a stirring document. Epilogue: I think my fellow readers Vanessa and Rory, below, put it much better than I ever could:

Vanessa: "Potentially the most depressing book I have ever seen."
Rory: "Um, yuck."

[Sissy · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book inspired me to make a coloring book with my friend ryan hudgins of all spring break images. it was recommended to me by my favorite professor and was potentially the most depressing book i have ever seen. the look of desperation on everyone's faces is truly incredible.

[Rory · Rating 2 out of 5]

Um, yuck. I'm not really reviewing the book because I can't get past the disgusting, sad images (over-lit, of kids on spring break). Which might actually speak well FOR the book.

[Amar Pai · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pulchritude, vapidity