Tanning is the most glorious of all the summer pastimes. Picture it now: a clear-skied afternoon renders you a burnt object of the sun’s affection. Sexy, sluggish, and sandy, you saunter off to dinner. There’s almost no superior feeling. Of course, it goes without saying that tanning could kill you. 

Hawaii-based street photographer Tim Huynh captures the oddities of tourism culture on his home island as leisure-seekers spend their days lying about Honolulu. He's also the YouTuber behind Word on the Street Photo. His subjects—often tourists—shell out their salaries to plant themselves on a beach and wilt, an endless process invigorated by an endless amount of people. Viewed through his lens, the poisonous process is all endearingly human. Huynh sees a universality here: is there not something sickly optimistic in the tanning cycle? Is it not kind of romantic that we spend our lives looking forward to the next sunny day?

Spend enough time in its embrace and the sun will ultimately kill you. But so will most things, Huynh seems to say. So why not chase it?