Miami, not the Beach
Often reduced to Miami Beach, the Miami Dade County actually consists of about thirty distinct municipalities, each with its own mayor and identity: Miami, Miami Gardens, North Miami, Florida City, Homestead, and more.
In this multicultural and multi-generational space, communities—Latino, African American, Caribbean—occupy their territories, evolving with influences, migration flows, and segregation processes, creating small open-air exit. Far from the dazzling, golden peninsula by the seaside, Miami, not the Beach is a personal project that explores the identity of this fragmented metropolis, where urban planning and car dependency hinder encounters and the emergence of collective life.
This project took root at Esquina de Abuela ("Grandmother’s Corner"), a hybrid space between a temporary artistic place and a cultural center, hosting events for and with local communities in the Latino neighborhood of Allapattah. During a solo trip in 2018, I stayed there for the first time, and it opened a door to a more intimate and lesser-known Miami, where my work expanded as I explored Miami Dade County.
Each encounter leads me to another, as I am introduced to someone through someone else. Sometimes, these exchanges result in new photographs. I navigate their world—from Liberty City in the heart of Miami to Florida City, the county’s southernmost town. Yet, I remain on the surface, adapting to the dynamics of each interaction, rarely delving into people's intimacy. Everything feels both raw and fleeting, and at times, I feel myself being carried away by this feverish energy.
Thus, this work revolves around the possibility—or impossibility—of reaching out to the Other, both myself toward them and them toward each other, in a society still deeply segregated. This separation is heightened by the predominant use of Spanish in an English-speaking country, gun ownership, and the adoption of aggressive dogs—all ways to protect oneself from others and maintain distance.
The photographs in Miami, not the Beach, oscillating between personal involvement and detached observation, create a tension between proximity and distance, opening a space for reflection on coexistence and insularity.
