Story updates on the Ocean City 57th Street Piers
Update on 7-25-2021 As I have promised I have added a new photography from my recent visit to the Ocean City beach at the same location that I visited in 2010 to take the iconic photographs of the 59th street piers at sunrise.
As you can see, the piers are gone. I went there just to see for my self and experience the feelings of loss as the location has changed. It’s interesting that we are not wired to readily accept change, but forced to when it is in are face.
In my humble opinion the bottom line is for me that mother nature makes a better picture, than any man-made structures.
Update Oct 23, 2022 These piers are gone, but not forgotten.
I was looking for words to describe this sunrise, but I was at a loss to find any that describes this beauty.
For most people, we often marvel at the beauty of a sunrise or the magnificence of a full moon, but it is impossible to fathom the magnitude of the universe that surrounds us.
Richard H. Baker

Gone but never forgotten

Sunrise at the beach

Photographs of Piers from Ocean City, New Jersey
Updated on 7-6-2021 this gallery of photographs of the 59th street piers in Ocean City Piers, New Jersey.
It’s a sad day for me looking back at the iconic piers of OC which are long gone since June 30, 2015. For more than a century, the 59th Street Pier stood as the icon of Ocean City’s south end.
I look forward to visiting the grave site of the piers and will post some images soon. The landmark — the backdrop for hundreds of thousands of photographs through the generations — is now gone.
Here’s the story according to the OCN Daily:
Last-remnants-of-59th-street-pier-gone-in-ocean-city
Updated this gallery of photographs of a Fine Art landscape of Ocean City, New Jersey Piers.
The island, a stretch of dunes and swamps running for seven miles, had been used by local Native Americans who were brought there by its abundance of fish during the summer months. Originally purchased by the Somers family, the island had once been named Peck’s Beach, believed to have been given the name for a whaler named John Peck who had a camp on the island.
10 years ago I got up at 3:00am to drive to Ocean City, New Jersey for a sunrise photo shoot, It was a special morning sunrise with a full moon and the weather was perfect. I love the ocean, and empty beach is a delight. I got lost at the moment and didn’t realize the tide was coming in and a wave cover my camera bag. Never sold any of these images.
Today the piers are gone, but they tell a story, so goodbye 59th street pier. I got inspired to review my 59th street Ocean City pier work by Tony Sweet inspirational black and white photographs of the pier this morning. What made me happy was the like I got on Facebook.

Sunrise

Sunrise at the beach

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8 Comments
I adore the colors for sunrise and sunsets! The remnants of the pier just gives the photos an anchor between the lovely colors of the sky and the timeless sea, along with a nice visual contrast in value and also between nature and human.
Katrina, thanks for the visit and kind words. Yes. The light was special with both the moon and the sun, didn’t do much PS work. I’m now more leaving my old images alone. Guess I’m lazy.
I do enjoy these photos. You have obviously taken a great deal of care with them
Hello Anne, thank you for the kind words, coming from a great artist like you, they mean a lot.
I agree with Bill – the pier might be gone but you are left with something that can artistically express many feelings as you have shown in the images above. I notice that the sun has gone a strange green tint in a ring around the center. I would be tempted to create a new “sun” over the top of that and just make it very bright. You would never see any detail in the sun itself in these sorts of image.
Hello Steve; Great catch, I fixed the green ring. This image had some strange lighting that I wasn’t prepared for, at sunrise, so light from the sun and also a full moon lighting which created some unique tones.
Often times the remnants of a pier are more artistically interesting than the original pier, itself. You have photographed and displayed these well. I also agree whit your (humble) opinion that Mother Nature creates the best art.
Bill, thanks for the visit, here’s a tip I recently learned was to pay more attention to the separation of the poles. Never stop learning.