Where the Amish Vacation: Photographs by Dina Litovsky
Every winter, Amish and Mennonite travelers from all over the United States, travel to Pinecraft, a small community in Sarasota, Florida. Starting out as a tourist camp in the 1920s, it has since become a popular vacation spot. Jokingly dubbed “Amish Las Vegas”, Pinecraft is a unique place where all different denominations of Anabaptist escape the winter together and mingle amongst each other. The usual rules are a bit looser, turning a blind eye to the use of cell phones, cameras and bicycles while encouraging recreational activities.
Dina Litovsky is a Ukrainian-born photographer who has lived in New York City since 1991. Her imagery can be described as visual sociology. Litovsky’s work explores the idea of leisure, often focusing on subcultures and social gatherings. In 2020, she won the Nannen Prize, Germany’s foremost award for documentary photography, for “Where the Amish Vacation”.
