The Lives of The Party

Looking at the New York dance hall days captured by photographer Laura June Kirsch in her debut monograph “Romantic Lowlife Fantasies: Emerging Adults in The Age of Hope” it’s hard not to think of a certain 2006 electro house classic by the French EDM duo Justice. “We are your friends, you’ll never be alone again,” the song beckons with a hollow promise, a siren’s cigarette-tinged chant to a wayward, weekend warrior Odysseus, looking for connection, or just the spark of life, in the mosh pit, in the bathroom stall, in a stranger’s mouth.

“Romantic Lowlife Fantasies” is an ode to the no-money glamour of the Obama generation, when the lines for Le Bain and The Box were a mile long, Heatherette was on the runways and Lady Gaga was still the girl who used to sing on The Lower East Side.

“We used to call our group friends ‘lowlives’ because we didn’t know what we were doing…we were out every night, we were out until 4 a.m. taking photos or hanging out with musicians,” Kirsch said at a talk held at House of Books in Kent, Conn. The Greenpoint, Brooklyn-based photographer has also shot celebrity portraits for Vogue, Spotify, and The Village Voice — from NBA player James Harden to pop singer Liam Payne. She described the twenty-something nostalgia captured in her book as “a fun, coming-of-age time for me as I entered the world in a real way. In college I was much more structured, I was in a serious relationship, and I was working for a label. Then after college, I was flying by the seat of my pants, shooting all these parties. It’s not what I expected to be doing in my twenties. I was leading this very traditional life — and then suddenly I wasn’t.”

“Romantic Lowlife Fantasies” is available at House of Books in Kent, Conn.

Photo courtesy of Laura June Kirsch

Photo courtesy of Laura June Kirsch

Photo courtesy of Laura June Kirsch

Latest News

Classifieds - February 26, 2026

Classifieds - February 26, 2026

Help Wanted

PART-TIME CARE-GIVER NEEDED: possibly LIVE-IN. Bright private STUDIO on 10 acres. Queen Bed, En-Suite Bathroom, Kitchenette & Garage. SHARON 407-620-7777.

The Salisbury Association’s Land Trust seeks part-time Land Steward: Responsibilities include monitoring easements and preserves, filing monitoring reports, documenting and reporting violations or encroachments, and recruiting and supervising volunteer monitors. The Steward will also execute preserve and trail stewardship according to Management Plans and manage contractor activity. Up to 10 hours per week, compensation commensurate with experience. Further details and requirements are available on request. To apply: Send cover letter, resume, and references to info@salisburyassociation.org. The Salisbury Association is an equal opportunity employer.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

To save birds, plant for caterpillars

Fireweed attracts the fabulous hummingbird sphinx moth.

Photo provided by Wild Seed Project

You must figure that, as rough as the cold weather has been for us, it’s worse for wildlife. Here, by the banks of the Housatonic, flocks of dark-eyed juncos, song sparrows, tufted titmice and black-capped chickadees have taken up residence in the boxwood — presumably because of its proximity to the breakfast bar. I no longer have a bird feeder after bears destroyed two versions and simply throw chili-flavored birdseed onto the snow twice a day. The tiny creatures from the boxwood are joined by blue jays, cardinals and a solitary flicker.

These birds will soon enough be nesting, and their babies will require a nonstop diet of caterpillars. This source of soft-bodied protein makes up more than 90 percent of native bird chicks’ diets, with each clutch consuming between 6,000 and 9,000 caterpillars before they fledge. That means we need a lot of caterpillars if we want our bird population to survive.

Keep ReadingShow less
Stephanie Haboush Plunkett and the home for American illustration

Stephanie Haboush Plunkett

L. Tomaino
"The field of illustration is very close to my heart"
— Stephanie Plunkett

For more than three decades, Stephanie Haboush Plunkett has worked to elevate illustration as a serious art form. As chief curator and Rockwell Center director at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, she has helped bring national and international attention to an art form long dismissed as merely commercial.

Her commitment to illustration is deeply personal. Plunkett grew up watching her father, Joseph Haboush, an illustrator and graphic designer, work late into the night in his home studio creating art and hand-lettered logos for package designs, toys and licensed-character products for the Walt Disney Co. and other clients.

Keep ReadingShow less
Free film screening and talk on end-of-life care
‘Come See Me in the Good Light’ is nominated for best documentary at this year’s Academy Awards.
Provided

Craig Davis, co-founder and board chair of East Mountain House, an end-of-life care facility in Lakeville, will sponsor a March 5 screening of the documentary “Come See Me in the Good Light” at The Moviehouse in Millerton, followed by a discussion with attendees.

The film, which is nominated for best documentary at this year’s Academy Awards, follows the poet Andrea Gibson and their partner Megan Falley as they are suddenly and unimaginably forced to navigate a terminal illness. The free screening invites audiences to gather not just for a film but for reflection on mortality, healing, connection and the ways communities support one another through difficult life transitions.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.