Jeremy Dennis, a member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation in Southampton, uses photography to probe the ongoing tensions between Indigenous and non-Native people. His image Land Claim, shot on the shores of Peconic Bay—ancestral Shinnecock land—depicts a white woman planting a beach umbrella in the sand while an Indigenous man, presumably Dennis, struggles beneath it. “The absurdity of the scene mirrors the historical reality of Indigenous land dispossession—how casually, even unknowingly, Colonial violence continues in everyday actions,” Dennis says.
The image exaggerates a familiar scenario to spotlight Indigenous erasure. The woman is oblivious to the harm she’s causing, echoing how Native presence is ignored in places like Southampton, where Shinnecock people must pay $50 a day to access beaches free to town residents.
“Land Claim‘s title plays on legal battles over Indigenous land while literally showing a moment of physical displacement. The image exaggerates this everyday reality. It also speaks to the invisibility of Indigenous presence; the woman is completely unaware of the harm she’s doing. That’s the unsettling part,” Dennis says.
Dennis meticulously plans his shoots—sketching compositions, scouting locations, assembling props—then leaves space for spontaneity. In Land Claim, a beach towel and umbrella evoke contemporary land occupation; the subject’s posture suggests both struggle and resistance. Shot with a Canon 5DSR using a wide-angle lens, the photo captures the expansiveness of the shoreline while keeping its central figures sharply in focus. Its saturated vacation hues contrast starkly with the image’s unsettling undertones.
“I’m excited to share this work in the Hudson Valley, where histories of displacement and resistance are deeply rooted. I want viewers to sit in the discomfort of these juxtapositions—to laugh, to feel unsettled, to recognize the absurdity of the fears and myths that persist about Indigenous people,” Dennis says. “My work isn’t just about the past; it’s about how history lingers in the present.”
Dennis’s upcoming exhibition, “Rise: Scenes of Resistance,” runs May 17-June 22 at Garrison Art Center. Featuring new and past work, the show explores defiance, resilience, and the reimagining of history. “The Hudson Valley has long been a contested space—home to Indigenous nations, sites of colonial violence, and later, political and artistic movements,” Dennis says. “These conversations about land, memory, and resistance aren’t just historical—they’re ongoing.”
For Dennis, Native survival isn’t a relic of the past. “Art is one of the ways I engage with that, using humor and surrealism to challenge dominant narratives,” he says. “We are still here, resisting, and telling our own stories.”
This article appears in May 2025.
