As the temperature climbs into the 80s, New Yorkers start clogging up the Montauk Highway, heading to the eastern tip of Long Island.
“The biggest misconception about the Hamptons is that it’s only a summer destination,” argues writer and photographer Susan Kaufman. “Fall is actually my favorite season out East—it’s less crowded, flowers are still blooming, and the colors of the changing leaves are spectacular. Everything just feels more peaceful and laid-back.”
Kaufman’s tribute to the East End, Walk With Me: Hamptons, landed on bookshelves right before the seasonal stampede this May. The photo book features a rotation of worn cottages, farm stands, quaint windmills, and bunting-lined boutiques.
Now a part-time resident of Amagansett, Kaufman first traveled to East Hampton at the age of 8 to visit her aunt and uncle. “I remember passing duck farms and endless potato fields as my family drove along the Montauk Highway back in the ’60s. The whole area is more built up than it used to be, and many smaller cottages have been leveled and replaced with grander homes—including my aunt and uncle’s cottage,” she recalls. “There are still many areas of the Hamptons that have remained untouched, but sadly there are fewer and fewer.”
Following the success of Walk With Me: New York, her 2022 publication now in its 10th printing, Kaufman turned her lens to the rapidly shifting landscape of her local haunts. “I used the same template—each chapter is a different town followed by an illustrated map,” she explains.
“There are photos of the natural beauty to be found in the Hamptons and [fewer] shop fronts.” Inside the tome, readers will find homes that, much like Kaufman’s, are a testament to the region’s legacy—and the people who maintain it. “Renovating our house was a time-consuming labor of love for the first few years,” admits Kaufman, “but it was worth everything we put into it.”
