L
ookupMiamionGoogle
Imagesor inpicture
librariesand itsbrightly
coloured lifeguardhutswill
beup therewith theArt
Decomansions,palm treesandglitzy
skylines.Theirbrashnessandpastel-y
colourschemessomehowspeakof 1980s
gregariousness;of thecityof
MiamiVice
.
YetFrenchphotographerLéoCaillard
wanted touseadifferentmethod topresent
thehuts,whicharespreadalongMiami’s
SouthBeach.He’sknown forworks that fuse
timeperiodsandwarp ideasaboutobjects
–hisrecent
Hipster inStone
series took
classicalGreekandRomansculpturesand
dressed them inskinny jeans, lumberjack
shirtsandsunglasses.
“I’m interested insocialattitudes
indifferentperiodsof time,”hesays.
“Humans, essentially,have thesame
priorities. Iwanted toshow that theancient
GreeksandRomansweren’tso far fromus.”
Strangely,perhaps,hesayshisMiami
series isalong thesame lines. “Iwanted to
presentanaesthetic that’smore2014.When
youseeMiami inshots, it’salwayssunshine,
colourand lotsof saturation– it’sstill this
1980s idea. Ideliberatelydidn’twant to
shoot thehuts in thesunshine– Iwanted
toavoidshadows, so italmost looks like the
hutsare flatandstuckon.”
Caillard first saw thehuts in2011,when
hewasonanotherprojectandwaspassing
them ina taxiearly in themorning. “Seeing
thebeachand the littlehouses flashingpast
had therhythmofmusic,”hesays. “They
lookedreallygraphic–sopure, sodesigned
–and I justhad toshoot them.”
Heshot just 12huts (therearearound
30 inMiami),mostonSouthBeach, rising
toshoot them from thesamedistance
andanglebetween5-6amover10days.
Choosingsuchasmallpercentagewasa
way to“keep thingssimple”; shootingbelow
cloudwas,hesays, anod toTurnerand the
French Impressionists.
Yet, forall thatCaillardplayswith the
retro ideaof the lifeguardhuts, theyweren’t
there in the ’80s.Theywerecreated in
response toHurricaneAndrew in1992,
whichhadripped throughAmerica’s
»
“Drivingpast the littlehouses they looked reallygraphic
– sopure, sodesigned– I just had to shoot them”
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