Miami Beach

“Scheinbaum’s sympathetic eye and sensitive imagery capture the vanishing life of Miami Beach as it was.”
Jerry Uelsmann

To view the social scene with the camera is a challenge. All too often the photographer brings to his vision a priori judgements of what aspects of the people and their environment to record — so that we see with his mind rather than through his eyes. Or, if on assignment to a magazine, he may be forced to follow a shooting script or a briefing, so that he sees with the mind of an editor.

Conversely, the photographer may be prone to record those aspects of the scene that appeal to his pictorial sense — finding beautiful abstract compositions and novel subject matter which, though appealing, are but sidelights to the main issue.

It is yet more difficult to photograph a small, tight community bounded by two perimeters: ethnic ties and old age. To this challenge David Scheinbaum has responded with sympathy and understanding. he show us what it is like to live in retirement in Miami Beach, Florida.

These photographs explain a situation little known to most of us. We are led along the sidewalks, into shops and gaming halls and the very homes of this community, by a compassionate yet observant and knowledgeable guide, seeing through his eyes.

Beaumont Newhall, Introduction to Miami Beach: Photographs of an American Dream

This work is archived at History Miami Museum, Miami, Florida

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