Wappinger Creek is a 41.7-mile-long creek that connects the waters of Thompson Pond to the mouth of the Hudson River in Dutchess County, New York. Carved by the creek’s path is a hidden Eden nestled in a small wooded area behind the Overlook Drive-In Theater on the outskirts of Poughkeepsie. Amongst the trees and muddy banks, residents congregate in and around this watering hole. Physical and social dissonance is forgone in this haven. The maple leaves rustle in the soft breeze, and rushed footsteps progress into a subsequent splash. Placid conversation fills the air, accompanying the slow trot of those wading in the water. 

“The creek is flowing but time has stopped still. There is no burden of history here. You are with your friends, afloat in the water. It is not only your body — it appears even your breath is finally weightless.”
- Amitava Kumar 

Caleb Stein (b. 1994, London) graduated from Vassar College in 2017 with a degree in history of art. His work explores the fragility of memory through an embrace of community and the dynamic, energetic interactions that occur within it. Questions surrounding mythology and narrative as they relate to the United States and the international influence it exerts sit at the core of much of Stein’s work, as he grapples with his relationship to the country that has become his adopted home. Stein’s work embraces the lyrical potential of photography; his work often contains a tension between the poetic and the emotionally confrontational. 

The New York Times

The Gurardian

Lenscratch

Photograph

Vogue

Musée