This book is about an island, about twenty islands actually, off the coast of Miami. It's the place people usually mean when they say "Miami". There are those that love the place and some that shrug it off, but to dismiss Miami Beach as just a resort is to underestimate the richness and the vitality of the place.



This is a collection of photos, organized along four themes. There aren't any clubs or bikini-ed girls on South Beach sand. Instead there are four different views of the city, though not necessarily the four most important. Just four different ways the city reaches out to me each day.



First, there are the mid-century buildings of the area, buildings that have a luminosity and playfulness that seem inseparable from Miami Beach. Next is the tropical foliage notable not for lushness, but for its crisp textures. Then there is always Lincoln Road, seven blocks that have a strong attraction for visitors, yet still hard to ignore as a resident. Finally, there are those skies: the light, the clouds, the shadows and the horizon that make their presence felt everywhere.