Gary Monroe: South Beach, 1977-1986

At Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum at FIU, Miami, a monographic exhibition documents a one-decade-long project by photographer Gary Monroe.
“South Beach, 1977-1986“ features the shots taken by the Miami-native photographer from 1977 on, as part of a new project.
Inspired by big masters, such as Garry Winogrand and Henri Cartier-Bresson, Monroe decided to record the life of the Jewish community in South Beach. Capturing everyday moments, daily activities, religious functions, and community gatherings, Monroe traces the slow transformations endured by the community and, in particular, its slow decline, resulting from the aging of its members or external causes such as crime and real estate development. Many of the portrayed Jewish fleeted from Europe before World War II or survived the Holocaust, building a new life for themselves in Miami’s area.
Nowadays, the entire project by Monroe provides a unique and accurate historical record of the evolution of this community.