The Last Resort captures the vibrant Miami of the 1970s



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Monroe and Sweet, both born in the 50s, grew up in this tranquil environment, within a strong Jewish community. After graduating from the Boulder University of Colorado Fine Arts Master's program in 1977, they returned home to Miami and agreed to photograph their city and its strange inhabitants every day for 10 years. . Many of their subsequent photos show people sitting on the porch and lounging subjects in lounge chairs – this is the prevailing sense of community affluence. "We saw something that I later understood, it was a precious legacy that was forgotten, that disappeared," says Monroe in the film. Although the elderly were lively, they were also approaching death.

Despite the same subject, Monroe and Sweet are distinguished by divergent styles. Monroe was preoccupied with form and composition and his black and white images are dark, even when the content is not. Sixth Street – South Beach, Florida (1978), for example, shows three women and a man walking on a sidewalk. Two of them are equipped with carts, while one of them holds an umbrella over his head to protect himself from the sun. The camera seems more interested in symmetry and the contrast between light and shadow than by the individuals themselves.

On the other hand, Sweet's more casual images emphasize character, as in her portrait of an elderly woman with curly hair, orange hair and a "Happy New Year" headband. (The couple visited several hotels on New Year's Eve, catching their elderly people celebrating the pbading of time.) Yellow and red leis cross over the shoulders of the woman. her tired expression: she partied too much for one night. Illuminated by Sweet's flash in a dark room, she seems almost angelic. These contrasts contribute to the sweetness of humor that permeates photography and much of Sweet's work.

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