Newsletter Archives April 2010 – Text only
Newsletter – May 2010 (First Edition!)
Photo tip
Try underexposing your shots a stop or two for more vibrant colors.
Detroit links
Natja Soave, photographer
http://natja.soave.net/
The Heidelberg Project
http://www.heidelberg.org/
Forgotten Detoit
http://www.forgottendetroit.com/
DetroitBlog
http://www.detroitblog.org/
Return to Peru
For those of you who don’t know, I am headed back to Peru on Monday April 26. It has been a wonderful visit to the States to see my friends and family and thank you all for having me. This time I am headed to northern Peru and up into Ecuador. Hopefully I will be able to get out to the Galapagos Islands! Be sure to check my site often for new shots and the next edition of my newsletter will be from South America. Ciao for now.
Detroit, MI
I have explored a number of places around the world, but this one has a feeling all it’s own. The once a thriving metropolis has since become a collapsing throwback to the days of Motown and Motor City USA. Now a haven for small neighborhood gangs, artists and die hard locals, Detroit rests in the shadow of it’s former glory. Once upper class urban neighborhoods are overgrown and littered with garbage and drug addicts. Entire city blocks have been vacated and left to decay or to be inhabited by a new class of renter, the squater. Windows that were boarded to prevent entry have been pried open and notched with peep holes to provide miniature sentry windows. And that is in the better kept areas. Old buildings in areas like the industrial zone of Zug Island have been in disrepair for so long that roofs are caving in and walls are falling down. Detroit is a perfect example of urban decay and as a result, it is a destination resort for a form of modern day explorer, the urban explorer.
The urban explorer rediscovers that which has been lost within the bounds of a city, more or less. Abandoned buildings (In Detroit called abandonments), sewers, and industrial zones are a few of her favorite stomping grounds. Detroit is lacking in none of these and it’s people are well aware. In the wake of the fall of “The D”, people are finding a new way to relate to their changing home, a new way to hold on to it’s past. It’s as if the gates have been opened and there is race to explore everything possible before it is demolished.
In spite of this melancholy reality, the sense of regional pride remains awe inspiring. To be in a place that has seen so many better days and to see the residents remember them fondly in the midst of what looks like a war zone is downright amazing. They love their city and it shows. Folks there do what they can as individuals to beautify their city. Community gardens are springing up all over and in what used to be a particularly nasty neighborhood, there is now a massive art project (below) that spans blocks. Let there be no confusion, those still there truly adore the place.
Those who remain are a select group that either have no place else to go or can’t bear to leave their once fair city. They are fighting with every breath to save what is left of Detroit from the wrecking ball, but their fight is one against odds and often times, futile. They feel that the future of Detroit rests solely in the their hands and in all likelihood, it does. Who knows what the future holds for this city? It could be returned to farm land or just let crumble, but one thing is for certain: Some of the city will be destroyed and some will be saved. She and her people will adapt to life in the new Detroit.
Michigan Central Train Station
Opened in 1913 and closed for the last time in 1988, Michigan Central Train Station was once a transportation hub of the the state.
The high ceiling atrium was modeled after a Roman style bath house with floor to ceiling front windows, walls of white marble and large columns near the ticket counters. The concourse sported a copper top skylight that passengers would pass under on the way to the trains. The 18-story tower above the station itself was used primarily as office space, though on the second story local authorities had an annex to maintain a police presence in the station. Intricate tile and marble work within the structure has seen it’s share of looters and vandalism and as a result, little remains.
Search for photos of Detroit by clicking here.
All content © Guy Grigsby
