Introduction to the Work of Niv Shank

There are some bodies of work that feel less like a project and more like a pulse. By the Lake is one such rhythm—an intimate, sun-dappled hymn to youth, nudity, nature, and nostalgia. Captured on 35mm and grounded in documentary spirit, this series by Niv Shank is not just an observation of life by European lakes; it is a quiet immersion into a world where freedom is not performed, but simply lived.

“In these lakes,” Niv once wrote, “I discovered the free body culture movement… the most natural thing to do when you visit a lake.” That clarity—unashamed and romantic—runs through every frame. His lens doesn’t interrogate; it admires. Whether spontaneous or softly staged, the photographs resist spectacle. They are offerings. Moments shared rather than stolen.

Set mainly in Berlin and the former Eastern bloc, these images whisper stories of a region shaped by history and softened by water. Niv notes the “communist style” architecture, the lingering post-war stillness—but what his camera returns to, again and again, is the human presence. A tenderness. A kind of collective exhale.

There’s a purity to By the Lake that’s rare. It is not concerned with provocation, but with permission—permission to be, to belong, to bathe in light and shadow without fear. “The nudity didn’t seem to provoke anyone,” he reflects, “on the contrary, it adds much more beauty and romance to the entire scenario.” In his words, as in his images, there is a reverence for simplicity and for the rituals of the everyday: the casual joy of picnic blankets, of shared smoke, of bare bodies under trees. It is a world unfiltered, yet entirely cinematic.

This forward is a quiet love letter to Niv Shank—not just to his images, but to the truth he’s offered us here. Even in silence, his work speaks. By the Lake remains—achingly sincere, gorgeously still. It reminds us that beauty, when found, offers not just hope but purpose.