The photographer and Montauk veteran shares his favourite haunts and looks; the latter available for same-day delivery to the Hamptons.

“Montauk: a quaint drinking village with a fishing problem.” So reads one of a number of bumper stickers on the back of a surfer’s SUV parked up at Ditch Plains Beach. “That’s certainly true of the place in winter,” says Mr Bjorn Iooss, a Manhattan-based fashion photographer who largely grew up in Montauk and returns to the family home as often as his globetrotting schedule allows. “But come summer there can be more of an emphasis on the drinking than the quaintness.”

In recent years Montauk – the easternmost tip of Long Island, 120 miles from Manhattan – has exploded in popularity and seasonal population. There are still plenty of fishermen, artists and surfers around but the hipsters and hedge-funders have skewed the demographic.

“When I was a kid, no one in Montauk dressed up and people would have looked at you strangely if you did,” says Mr Iooss. “But these days it is a bit more of a fashion parade.”

His father is Mr Walter Iooss, the legendary Sports Illustrated photographer who has shot all the greats: Messrs Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan, and Pelé. His mother, Ms Eva Iooss, a painter, fell in love with Montauk in the early 1970s when she visited for a modelling job and instantly felt a connection with Zandvoort, the Dutch seaside town where she grew up. The couple bought the land in 1977 and built their current family home in 1983. It is a majestic cliff-top spot with panoramic sea views and private access to a secluded beach where Mr Bjorn Iooss and his older brother Mr Christian Iooss learnt to surf as young boys. Their neighbours include the artist and filmmaker Mr Julian Schnabel and the celebrated photographer Mr Bruce Weber.

Both Iooss boys have followed in their father’s footsteps: Christian is director of photography and video at Golf Digest and Golf World. Bjorn, who had little interest in sports aside from surfing, has made a name for himself in portraiture and fashion.

“As kids we’d surf all day and then afterwards I’d take pictures when the light was beautiful. I didn’t have a bad person to learn from,” says the youngest Mr Iooss of his dad. “Surfing and the nature around it really informed my photography.” It also influenced his style, which has retained a laid-back insouciance. “I rarely dress up. This is me most the time: beach casual.”

Now 34, Mr Iooss returns to Montauk whenever he can to surf and shoot. He invited MR PORTER to join him for a recent visit and showed us his favourite local places around town.

“In the summer it’s good to have a locals’ night here before the crowds descend on a Friday so I try to get out on a Thursday, work permitting. I pack pretty light – just my Mulberry weekend bag and my camera. The train is the most reliable way to get out here – the road can be bumper to bumper if you time your departure from the city badly – but they really crank up the air conditioning in the carriages so you need a cashmere sweater or a jacket. On a Thursday night I like to go to a really local, kooky and casual place called The Dock for its Manhattan clam chowder and the tuna melt – a medium-rare tuna steak on an English muffin with melted cheddar. The bar butts up to Gosman’s Fish Market on the dock so all its fish is right off the boat.”

“This is my man-about-the-house look: jersey sweatpants and a T-shirt. I like simple but good quality basics so James Perse is a go-to. The cotton is super-soft and they are great layering pieces. I’ll either come down to make some eggs or head over to Naturally Good, a health food shop and café, which is my favourite place for breakfast or lunch. It’s all organic and healthy. I always order The Bruce – fresh-caught tuna on Ezekiel bread with salad, cheddar and avocado. I’m not sure if anyone knows why it’s called The Bruce any more but it’s been a signature sandwich for as long as I can remember. And you’ve got to try the banana smoothie. Friday nights in summer are lively here. At some point we’ll usually go to Liars, which is a great year-round local pub. It gets pretty raucous when the karaoke fires up.”

“My weekends are largely dictated by the surf. If conditions are good I’ll get up early for a surf in which case I’ll need to wear a wetsuit at this time of year – probably usually a 3/2mm full suit one like this. Our garage is full of boards and wetsuits. My favourite place to surf is right in front of our house with my brother, a spot which isn’t easily accessible for the public. Or I’ll go to Poles or Atlantic Terrace Town, which both have pretty consistent waves. I also like surfing at a secret spot that I don’t want to name with the Whalebone boys – a group of really good local surfers and friends of mine. My friend Jesse Joeckel founded Whalebone Creative, a local lifestyle brand that sells surf-inspired apparel and he’s also now got a magazine about East End and Montauk culture called Whalebone. At sunset, Montauket is the place to be – the patio out back overlooks Fort Pond Bay and faces out west so the sun just drops into the water.”

“I like to hang out at the house at the weekend and read by the pool. My mum might be painting in her studio, my dad might be getting his photographic archive in order in the basement, our dog Fanny will be running around. It’s such a peaceful escape away from the city. This is a typical look for me: shorts and a button-down denim shirt worn loose over a T-shirt with the sleeves rolled up. My older brother Christian recently bought a house out here so he’ll often come over with his family. If we go out for dinner together it’ll probably be to Dave’s Grill, which has been a family favourite since it opened about 25 years ago. And they know us well so we can usually get a table pretty fast. The food there is spectacular: Dave’s ‘Original Chioppino’ [seafood stew] is hard to beat.”

“Ditch Plains is the epicentre of surfing round here. When Christian and I were kids, the lifeguard stand at Ditch was like daycare. The Ditch Witch is a food truck right on the beach and is a famous fixture; a Montauk institution. It’s a gathering point where everyone meets up to grab a coffee and discuss the surf or lack thereof until they’re blue in the face. You run into everyone down there – people say it puts the talk in Montauk. They open early so I’ll often stop by here for breakfast on the run after a final surf before heading back to the city. They do a great scrambled-egg burrito with ham and cheese with Salsa Lizano, this amazing Costa Rican hot sauce on the side and I’ll finish that off with an Arnold Palmer – iced tea with lemonade.”