Andy Sweet : Images of 1970's Miami Beach

In the 1970’s photographer Andy Sweet was obsessed with capturing images of the elderly Jewish population of Miami Beach who resided mainly in small hotels and apartment buildings on Ocean Drive. His work so perfectly captured the essence of this colorful and vibrant community who had retired here in the ‘sunshine State’ after living their whole working lives in cities like New York, and even included survivors of the Holocaust.

Then tragically in 1982 Sweet was brutally murdered in his own apartment by two hustlers. He was just twenty eight years old. His heartbroken family …… his father was a local judge ……decided to place all the boxes of negatives of Sweet’s photographs in a special storage unit. Ten years ago when they asked for the return of the boxes, they discovered that they had been misplaced never to be found again. All however was not lost as in 2006 Sweet’s brother-in-law Stan Hughes discovered a whole cache of prints that his wife Ellen Sweet had filed away in their attic. They set about restoring the prints, some of which are now being exhibited in what is Sweet’s first solo show in over 20 years.

This small but crucial exhibit at Miami Beach Cinematheque has been curated by Dana Keith and Ed Christin and is a truly remarkable record of the lost world of Jewish Miami Beach which is but a distant memory now. Seven original prints are on display, as well as restored images by Hughes. Some originals will be on sale for $4,000 and restored copies for $1,000. The proceeds will benefit the Andy Sweet Photo Legacy, a nonprofit that helps pay for the costs of the photo restoration project and equipment.