In the late 1970s, photographer Andy Sweet began documenting Old World Jewish culture. He painted an incisive portrait of a culture whose generation was dying out. Andy chose to photograph in color with vivid hues that reflect the warm atmosphere in which his community lived. This photographic choice was the key to his artistic approach. A long-time admirer of Diane Arbus, he took a similar approach in some respects, without going into the darker side of Diane Arbus' work hence his choice to photograph in color. For the little story"; the characters immortalized by the lens of Andy Sweet are European Jewish emigrants, survivors of the camps of the Second World War.
At the end of the conflict, some have rebuilt their lives in the United States, notably in New York. To escape the harsh winters of the capital, some couples have arrived in Florida in search of sunshine and joie de vivre. Because all these women and men with a painful past have decided to celebrate life! From a seasonal installation, some have definitely put down their luggage, and in fact, formed an increasingly large community of dynamic retirees during the seventies.
Installed in 1977 in South Beach, Andy Sweet began to bear witness to the history of these characters, in resonance with a larger project planned over ten years aimed at documenting the history of the city... Alas, the young photographer - graduate of a master's degree in Fine Arts from the University of Boulder in Colorado - did not have the expected time to finalize his project... He was assassinated on October 16, 1982 on a city beach, while 29 years old.
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