Shtetl in the Sun: Andy Sweet's South Beach 1977?1980

Sokol, Brett [Editor]; Sweet, Andy [Photographer]; Groff, Lauren [Introduction];

ISBN 10: 0989381188 / ISBN 13: 9780989381185

Published by Letter16 Press, 2019

About this Item

2018, HC.Clean, unmarked pages, minor wear to cover.

Seller Inventory # 250812018

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Shtetl in the Sun: Andy Sweet's South Beach 1977?1980
• Publisher: Letter16 Press
• Publication Date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0989381188
• ISBN 13: 9780989381185
• Binding: hardcover
• Condition: Very Good
• Weight: 45 ounces

About this title

Synopsis

“Andy Sweet’s photographs and a new film tell the story of a vanished Jewish community on the tip of Miami Beach that gave way to a glittering American Riviera.” –The New York Times

Forget the jokes about late ‘70s South Beach being the Yiddish-speaking section of “God’s Waiting Room”; yes, upward of 20,000 elderly Jews made up nearly half of its population in those days―all crammed into an area of barely two square miles like a modern-day shtetl. But these New York transplants and Holocaust survivors all still had plenty of living, laughing and loving to do, as strikingly portrayed in Shtetl in the Sun, which features previously unseen photographs documenting South Beach’s once-thriving and now-vanished Jewish community―a project that American photographer Andy Sweet (1953–82) began in 1977 after receiving his MFA from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and a driving passion until his tragic death. Sweet’s photos capture this community’s daily rhythms in all their beach-strolling, klezmer-dancing glory. “They were strong, humorous, and beautiful images,” fellow photographer Mary Ellen Mark, who worked closely with Sweet, remarked after his death. The book includes a foreword by award-winning Miami arts journalist Brett Sokol and an introductory essay by National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author Lauren Groff.

Review

Floral patterns, shades of fuschia and pear, and bold Art Deco structures enliven Andy Sweet's pictures of 1970s South Beach, Miami. Even the photographer's last name suggests the merriment and candy hues that color his frames.--Alina Cohen "Artsy "

[Shtetl in the Sun: Andy Sweet's South Beach 1977-1980] reveals that New Yorkers were in the wrong all those years when they referred to Miami Beach as God's waiting room. [The book] chronicles how their bubbles and zaydes were really on a rip-roaring, permanent spring break for old folks.--Rebecca Kleinman "WWD "

[Shtetl in the Sun] document[s] a forgotten era of Miami Beach's Jewish history.--Alejandra Martinez "WLRN "

Andy Sweet's photographs and a new film tell the story of a vanished Jewish community on the tip of Miami Beach that gave way to a glittering American Riviera.--Joseph B. Treaster "New York Times "

Under cerulean skies, at the shores of the azure Atlantic, in the shade of tall, green palm trees, nearly vibrating in the hot Miami sun, the photographer's subjects--aged but resilient, a new breed of pioneers in a new kind of frontier--were of this country just as much as Shore's roadside budget motels and gas stations, or Eggleston's diners and long-finned cars.--Naomi Fry "The New Yorker "