Miami’s latest building boom has put our city on the map for great architecture with work from “starchitects” including Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhas, Herzog & de Meuron, Bjarke Ingels and Carlos Ott. Yet some of our most iconic built structures are little more than whimsical wooden sheds watching over the waves. For its centennial, Miami Beach refreshed its lifeguard stands and added some new designs to the mix. Miami photographer Sean R. Sullivan takes us on a tour of Miami Beach lifeguard stands from South Pointe Park all the way up to 85th Street, and explains what he saw, and why he loves these tiny Miami buildings.
South Pointe jetty: “This the first stand if you start at the South end of the beach. I like that it’s kind of like a lighthouse and there are the cruise ship and the tall ship back there. It’s kind of a historical juxtaposition. I saw that girl there and she was just in this position and that was the shot. I always try to shoot people as they are in the world. These people are part of the beach and how people use them is all part of the life of these lifeguard stands.” (Sean R. Sullivan,
seanwashere.com)
South of First Street: “I really like the color on this. It’s the aqua that reminds me of Miami’s ocean. I love how this one captures the sky and the color of the ocean and I like the people kite surfing. It’s these times that when you live here feel really special to me.” (Sean R. Sullivan,
seanwashere.com)
First street: “This is not one of my favorites. I’m not crazy about the color, but I like the little fringe on the roof. It reminds me of a beach umbrella.” (Sean R. href=”http://seanwashere.com/”>seanwashere.com)
South Pointe jetty: “This the first stand if you start at the South end of the beach. I like that it looks like a lighthouse right on the end by the jetty, and there are the cruise ship and the tall ship back there. It’s kind of a historical juxtaposition. I saw that girl there and she was just sitting there looking back, and I knew that was the shot. I love to shoot people as they are in the world and become part of that moment. A big part of the life of these lifeguard stands is how people use them when the lifeguards aren’t there.”
3rd Street: Yoga on Third meets here twice a day at sunrise and sunset. I love the colors on this stand, but I came to shoot yoga because it really captures how the beach is such a deep part of Miami’s lifestyle and how we use these stands as the meeting places here. (Sean R. Sullivan,
seanwashere.com)
5th Street: “I feel like this is such an iconic one with the logo. It’s the only one that says Miami Beach. It reminds me of the Welcome to Miami Beach sign when you come over on the MacArthur. It’s probably the city’s best ad on the beach.” (Sean R. Sullivan,
seanwashere.com)
6th Street: “I think it’s cool how you can see the earlier stands behind this one and the jetty further south. The color of the Miami sky here is what really struck me. The stands have that nice silhouette against it.” (Sean R. Sullivan,
seanwashere.com)
3rd Street: “Yoga on Third meets here [at the 3rd Street stand] twice a day at sunrise and sunset. I love the colors on this stand, but I came to shoot yoga because it really captures how the beach is such a deep part of Miami’s lifestyle and how we use these stands as the meeting places here.”
8th Street: “So, when I came to Miami five years ago, this was the first stand I shot. It’s the one that got me interested in these. At the time, it was kind of falling apart, but they just fixed it up for the centennial. I have a big print of the old one, and I’ve sold a lot of them, but it reminds me of when I was discovering Miami.” (Sean R. Sullivan,
seanwashere.com)
8th Street: “So, when I came to Miami five years ago, [the 8th street stand] was the first stand I ever shot. It’s the one that got me interested in these. At the time, it was kind of falling apart, but they just fixed it up for the centennial. I have a big print of the old one, and I’ve sold a lot of them. This stand always reminds me of when I was discovering Miami.”
10th Street: “This stand is one of the most interesting versions, with the curves and the Jetsons feel to it. I went to shoot at sunrise and this guy was just out playing the flute. Ocean Drive is just behind us and you can see the Breakwater sign still lit up. It’s just a great Miami Beach moment, a little weird, and always beautiful.” (Sean R. Sullivan,
seanwashere.com)
12th Street: “This stand is also really interesting, with that curving roof. and I think the colors are really nice here. It’s so different from the stand before. I like how these stands become navigational. Even if you haven’t been here long, it’s so easy to figure out where you are because each one is distinctive.” (Sean R. Sullivan,
seanwashere.com)
13th Street: “As far as the architecture this one is kind of boring, but the stars and stripes are a nice touch. Hurricane Andrew wiped out a lot of these stands, so they rebuilt a lot of the old ones in this more bland, boxy style.” (Sean R. Sullivan,
seanwashere.com)
10th Street: “This stand is one of the most interesting versions, with the curves and that Jetsons feel to it. I went to shoot at sunrise and this guy was just out playing the flute. Ocean Drive is just behind us and you can see the Breakwater sign still lit up. It’s just a great Miami Beach moment, a little weird, and always beautiful.”
14th Street: “I like 14th Street one a lot. It has that different porch and the columns. This one definitely feels like a fun place to hang out.” (Sean R. Sullivan,
seanwashere.com)
15th Street: “This is that standard design. The colors are nice, and I think the thing that’s unique about all of these stands as a whole is the color and the diversity. It’s really representative of the character of Miami.” (Sean R. Sullivan,
seanwashere.com)
16th Street: “I like this one because it seems that the woman is sort of pondering about life. There’s a flower on the back of it, but the real catch here was that moment that we all have in Miami when we take our time at the sunset to enjoy where we live.” (Sean R. Sullivan,
seanwashere.com)
17th Street: “I think this photo is kind of just a perfect Miami day. The clouds and the whole scene struck me like a painting. Those are little fish on the back of the guardhouse. This may be my favorite photo, even if the stand isn’t as unique, the light and the sky, the people hanging out on the beach the ship in the background, it just feels like an ad for Miami to me.” (Sean R. Sullivan,
seanwashere.com)
18th Street: “The contrast of the sky and the ocean are nice here, but the stand is a little less impressive.” (Sean R. Sullivan,
seanwashere.com)
21st Street: “This is another of those more standard ones, so I tried to play off the sky here with the orange on the stand and the orange of the sky.” (Sean R. Sullivan,
seanwashere.com)
13th and 14th Streets: “Hurricane Andrew wiped out a lot of these stands, so they rebuilt a lot of the old ones in this more bland, boxy style … I like 14th Street stand a lot, though. It has that different porch and the columns. This one definitely feels like a fun place to hang out.”
30th Street: “This one is great. The old version was really drab, and they repainted it, so the colors really pop. You don’t see the rocks on the beach, so it’s on a unique place as far as the location. I like how in a lot of these photos you see the ships in the background, because it’s such a huge industry in Miami, and most of us don’t think about it, but it’s always there.” (Sean R. Sullivan,
seanwashere.com)
35th Street: “I like the roof here. It reminds me of the wing of an airplane, almost taking off. I took this one on Sunday, and as you get more north you have fewer people. It’s a really peaceful part of the beach.” (Sean R. Sullivan,
seanwashere.com)
41st Street: “This one I caught before they repainted it. It probably looks a lot better now, but it’s a little rough around the edges. I don’t think they repaint these very often, so this is probably 10 years of weather.” (Sean R. Sullivan,
seanwashere.com)
46th Street: “This is another stand that I got before it was repainted. I like how this photo shows what it feels like to come onto the beach when you’re not a tourist, because this is where we go.” (Sean R. Sullivan,
seanwashere.com)
53rd Street: “I like how the sky and ocean work with the colors of this stand. I feel like that stand just fits really well here.” (Sean R. Sullivan,
seanwashere.com)
30th Street: “This one is great. The old version was really drab, and they repainted it, so the colors really pop. You don’t see the rocks on the beach, so it’s on a unique place as far as the location. I like how in a lot of these photos you see the ships in the background, because it’s such a huge industry in Miami, and most of us don’t think about it, but it’s always there.”
64th Street: “I was taking pictures of the cat as I came up, because I was expecting him to run away. This is the last one I got before he ran off. I don’t think people realize how many feral cats are on the beach. People kind of care for them and leave these little piles of food out.” (Sean R. Sullivan,
seanwashere.com)
63rd Street: “I was taking pictures of the cat as I came up, because I was expecting him to run away. This is the last one I got before he ran off. I don’t think people realize how many feral cats live out on the beach, especially in this area. People kind of care for them and leave these little piles of food out.”
69th Street: “This is one of my favorite shots of the series too. Everything is showing the unique architecture of Miami, and the roof of the stand complements that iconic hotel clock. They just repainted this one too, and so I went back out to reshoot it. I love how in this shot, people are congregating here. The beach is miles and miles long, and people gather around the stands. Even though no one is on duty, they convey safety and shelter and comfort. If you climb up on them, you get a great view of people passing — or even underneath, it’s a nice comfortable place to hang out.” (Sean R. Sullivan,
seanwashere.com)
69th Street:“This is one of my favorite shots of the series too. Everything is showing the unique architecture of Miami, and the roof of the stand complements that iconic hotel clock. They just repainted this one too, and so I went back out to reshoot it. I love how in this shot, people are congregating here. The beach is miles and miles long, and people gather around the stands. Even though no one is on duty, they convey safety and shelter and comfort. If you climb up on them, you get a great view of people passing — or even underneath, it’s a nice comfortable place to hang out.”
72nd Street: “This one looks kind of lonely, like it’s had better days. This was another shot before it was repainted. I just wanted to show how long the beach stretches here and these stands are markers of that distance.” (Sean R. Sullivan,
seanwashere.com)
74th Street: “This was taken from the boardwalk as I was biking up. I wasn’t planning to shoot this one this day, but the kite was there and the light was right. I don’t understand what that whole deal with the shamrock is on this stand at all, but I loved this moment.” (Sean R. Sullivan,
seanwashere.com)
77th Street: “This is green on green, huh?! It was freshly painted, and there’s something unique about the roof. I took this at sunrise, and the sun is just about to peek its head up. It’s just so peaceful.” (Sean R. Sullivan,
seanwashere.com)
80th Street: “I like the diamond on the door here. It seems like a secret club that you knock on it and have to say the password. I like the structure of this one, as far as the roof and the shape of it against the hotels.” (Sean R. Sullivan,
seanwashere.com)
83rd Street: “The sky was lit up well tonight from the passing thunderstorm. While I really like the design and color of this tower, I think the most interesting thing is that it’s actually set behind the rope in sand dunes where as every single other lifeguard tower is right up on the sand near the ocean. I actually missed this tower on my first run. Because I was traveling to all the towers by bike, I would travel between them on the road or boardwalk and not on the beach itself. Looking North from the 80th Street tower, I directly saw 85th, and missed this beauty hiding in the dunes.” (Sean R. Sullivan,
seanwashere.com)
85th Street: “They painted this one different colors than the original, but I like how the railing matches the ocean and you have that Miami, flamingo pink.” (Sean R. Sullivan,
seanwashere.com)
83rd street: “The sky was lit up well tonight from the passing thunderstorm. While I really like the design and color of this tower, I think the most interesting thing is that it’s actually set behind the rope in sand dunes where as every single other lifeguard tower is right up on the sand near the ocean. I actually missed this tower on my first run. Because I was traveling to all the towers by bike, I would travel between them on the road or boardwalk and not on the beach itself. Looking North from the 80th Street tower, I directly saw 85th, and missed this beauty hiding in the dunes.”
