With a few exceptions, most art photography leaves me . . . meh. Probably that just means I lack the education or sophistication to understand it, but for me it seems like there’s a few obvious tricks to art photography and once you master those there’s not much to distinguish one art photographer from another. If that means I’m a philistine, well, I’m fine with that. Sometimes philistines get a bad rap.

So you’d think a documentary about an art photographer would decidedly be not my thing. I am happy to report that you’d be wrong about that. The Last Resort shows the work of Andy Sweet an art photographer who documented Miami Beach during its salad days in the 60s and early 70s as a favored destination for Jewish retirees. Some were Holocaust survivors, but many were also first generation immigrants who arrived in the late 1800s and early 1900s in New York City fleeing pogroms in eastern Europe.

As an out philistine, I lack the vocabulary to explain why I adore Sweet’s photos, but they are undeniably gorgeous. Few of Sweet’s subjects had an easy path to Miami Beach, but his photos make clear that these alte kakers are vital personalities and they are having the absolute time of their lives. Those personalities are amplified by the swathes and swirls of mid-century color that churn through their clothes, their furniture, and their architecture. This is a movie that will reward you for seeing it on a big, high-quality screen.

The second half of the movie shifts focus from Andy Sweet’s art to his biography including his tragic demise and the loss of much of his work. It’s here that the movie-making shows more of its seams. There are sections about Sweet’s death and the loss of his work that feel as though they were left unfinished. Perhaps they were left unfinished out of consideration for the family (who seem to have a prickly and ungenerous relationship with Sweet’s partner, Gary Monroe).

The work that survives was recovered from contact sheets by Sweet’s brother-in-law who lovingly restored them using the magic of Photoshop. That work is fabulous and when it is front and center, this film really shines.

Worth Your Time.

Streaming now on Kanopy.