DETROIT/ 312
Detroit/ 312 is an online exhibition marking Detroit’s 312th year while looking at the visual venacular that has come to represent the city in it’s many forms. In the wake of the bankruptcy, it was important for us to highlight photographs that moved beyond the turmoil of fancial decline. Detroit may be at a crossroads, but the individuals who call Detroit home are the life force of this city and are as vibrant asever. These selected images explore some of Detroit’s many facets. From the infamous music culture to street scenes common to any midwestern city, this exhibition aims to touch on what forms this place and to celeprate it as it moves into the future.
Pixi at Duly's, 2012
This photo was taken last summer around July on a late Friday night, I was with Bruce Giffin and friends Sandra Cook and Pixi Halladay.. Duly’s is a small restaurant in Mexicantown, and we stopped there for a bite to eat. During the meal Pixi said she needed to smoke a cigarette outside. So I followed her out to keep her company and I like they way she was leaning against the window and the red glow cast on her with her blond hair. So I took a couple of shots, with my Canon 40D Digital with a Canon 28-135 lens.
Sara Abbate
Two Dollar Car Wash (Taken with iPhone), 2013
This photo was snapped while driving through Corktown on a smoldering summer day in July, 2013. As I was driving by, the young boy said, “Hey lady, want your car washed, only two dollars!?” I literally captured the image while driving by.
Fieke van Berkom
Gold, Detroit, 2010
Just a good piece of art on Grand River Blvd..
Tyler Joswick
DCFC, 2013
On Tuesday, June 18, 2013 the Detroit City Football Club played the Columbus Crew Super 20s. I am from Columbus, Ohio but I love Detroit, so whoever won was fine with me. The game was a 1-2 lose for DCFC.
Fieke van Berkom
She and Her Doll Poki, Detroit, 2013
A beautiful free soul enjoys the live music of the Jazz Fest. She hugs Poki and gives him kisses. 'I love dolls,' she said, 'at home I got 14 more.'
Fieke van Berkom
White Star Wonder, Detroit, 2010
You enter space when you enter the White Star in Hamtramck.
Fieke van Berkom
Urban Cowboy, Detroit, 2010
The Urban Cowboys had the task to close the tail of the Jesse Jackson March in 2010. They also carried a sign that read: Trabajos Justicia.
MacArthur Bridge and Fishermen, 2008
This photograph, entitled MacArthur Bridge and Fishermen, was made in 2008, if memory serves, using a Fuji S3 digital slr. Although I generally prefer working with medium and large format film, I had developed a habit of carrying the Fuji with me on some outings because I like the film like quality the sensor lends to images. On this particular morning, I was in the process of setting up my 4x5 camera and lens when the boat and its two occupants emerged from beneath the bridge. Thankfully, the Fuji was ready to shoot, and this image was able to be created.
Donald Di Pace
The 3 Red Statues, Urban Safari
Bruce Giffin and I were in a Detroit neighborhood. We were just driving around and we spotted these statues. We stopped and I took some shots. I thought it wast interesting they way they were positioned in this empty field surrounded by residences. The camera I think I used was a Canon 40D with my 28-135 Canon lens. Bruce and I have done What I call "Urban Safaris" for some time now. And have come across some very interesting things to photograph.
BOOKIES CLUB 870 PARKING LOT, Silver gelatin photograph, circa 1979-80
From 1978 onwards this bar became home to greater Detroit’s underground punk rock scene when dozens of local young bands emerged during this fertile period. I was the “house photographer” of sorts - there for love of the music, a recent art school graduate just doing my art actually, along with everyone in this intense creative community. What a playground of freedom and an artistic incubator it was! This is an exceptional daytime photograph just to document the building...taken the only time I visited Bookies in daylight...
Tyler Joswick
DEMF, 2013
The Detroit Electronic Music Festival was the weekend I moved to downtown Detroit. It was my first music festival and I like to think it was the most awesome welcome party ever. Here festival goers catch their breath, forming a human pyramid in the shadow of the Renaissance Center.
Jim Aho
Street Scene 1, 1971
I photographed this building during a snow storm in 1971, shooting out the window of the First National Building parking garage in downtown Detroit. The building, now long gone, was at 500 Woodward Avenue between Larned and Congress, in the space now occupied by the neo-gothic, 43-story office high-rise now known as Comerica Tower (formerly One Detroit Centre).