Photos of Small Town Life in Catskill, New York

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Photos of Small Town Life in Catskill, New York

You learn to love and hate it all at once—always wanting to leave, always coming back, longing for the day you drop everything and go for good.​

This article appears in the August Issue of VICE Magazine

I grew up in Catskill, New York, and have spent the majority of my life in this small town. Despite living here for some 20-odd years, I feel a disconnect that doesn't quite allow me to call this place "home." Catskill means so much to me and yet there is nothing keeping me here—friends have moved on, family is here but the kinship isn't. Passing through the same places every day, I feel like an observer, constantly in search for connection that manages to elude me. The repetition can become smothering, a constant reminder of stagnation—small changes become beautiful, and yet things never really change. You learn to love and hate it all at once—always wanting to leave, always coming back, longing for the day you drop everything and go for good.

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See more of Juan Madrid's work here.