“Beachscapes” by photographers Michael Kubel and John Wyatt continues through Sept. 30, Arthaus at the Mezz, Renaissance Allentown Hotel.

Kubel focuses his camera on East Coast beachscapes. Wyatt’s work captures images along the West Coast.

Thirty pieces in the exhibition are of Kubel’s travels to Asbury Park and Seaside Heights, N.J.; Ocean City and Assateague Island, Md.; and Rehoboth Beach, Del.

“This one was the first time I moved from the Delaware and Maryland beaches to the Jersey beaches and started getting really serious about the art of it,” says Kubel about “Lovers #1” (2018; archival pigment print, 22 in. x 28 in.). “I went to Asbury Park, which is a very artsy town and joy to be around,” Kubel says.

In the foreground is a structure near the beach that was battered by Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and was showing signs of decay. The couple holding hands in the background are framed by the weathered wooden wall. “I didn’t want to focus on them, I wanted them to be a part of it. I wanted the scene to be the art and beauty of it,” says Kubel.

This and others in the exhibit depict quiet off-season or end-of-season scenes along the Atlantic Ocean. Kubel’s photographs of murals on the boarded-up Sunset Pavilion at Asbury Park includes one with a mammoth pair of “Watchful Eyes” looking out at a solitary woman as she walks by, pulling her belongings behind her on a pair of luggage dollies.

Wyatt’s “Pyramid Sculptures” (2023; archival pigment print, 13 in. x 20 in.) is one of 18 works photographed at Bombay Beach, Calif.

“This particular photograph is of two metal pyramids that were installed on the beach at Bombay Beach for their 2023 Biennale, a three-day event for artists. There’s a lot of world class artists that participate in this,” Wyatt says.

After viewing the documentary film “Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea,” Wyatt found himself “fascinated by it.” The movie tells the story of a landlocked lake in the southern California desert that became an environmental catastrophe known as the Salton Sea. The resort town of Bombay Beach, once popular in the 1950s through the 1970s, lost its luster when toxic farm runoff and high salinity blighted the area in the 1980s.

When he was visiting his adult son in the San Diego, the pair journeyed 38 miles from his son’s home to check out Bombay Beach. Wyatt has returned several times to document the part-ghost town and part-arts community and its resilient residents.

“The people there have a great spirit. That’s one of the things that keeps me going back,” says Wyatt, who admires their sense of humor.

Complementing Kubel’s images of East Coast street art, Wyatt photographed murals gracing the walls of buildings in Bombay Beach. “Chris Farley Mural on House” depicts the comedian saying, “I live in a …” and another, titled “Calling Dr. Bombay Beach Mural” slyly has the TV sitcom doctor from “Bewitched” being summoned on the phone by Elizabeth Montgomery’s Samantha character.

Wyatt has two of his coffee table books at the gallery, as well. “Under My Skin” (2003) has portraits of heavily tattooed persons. “Tough Guys” (2013) spotlights those employed in physically-demanding occupations.

Kubel shares a studio with photographer Ed Eckstein in the Karl Stirner’s Easton Arts Building, Easton.

Kubel, a Notre Dame High School, Class of 1987 graduate, a Bachelor’s in Psychology from The Pennsylvania State University in 1992 where he was on the student newspaper staff. He was a professional photographer for 17 years for The Morning Call.

Wyatt works out of his home studio in Gillette, N.J. Wyatt received Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 1968.

Arthaus at the Mezz is operated by RE:find and curator Deborah Rabinsky.

“Beachscapes,” through Sept. 30, Arthaus at the Mezz, mezzanine level gallery, Renaissance Allentown Hotel, 12 N. Seventh St., Allentown. Open 24 hours. 610-841-4866; www.allentownarts.com

“Gallery View” is a column about artists, exhibitions and galleries. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com