Hooked on Detroit Decay
Today I’m hooked on Sweet Juniper’s photos showing urban decay around Detroit. As explained by JDG - the photographer - ”any asshole with a camera can take beautiful photos of Detroit”.
This is his explanation of the urban prairies, formerly thriving neighbourhoods, which have been left to sink back into the ground:
step one: build a nice neighborhood a mile or so from detroit’s downtown.
step two: tear down the heart of the neighborhood to build an auto factory.
step three: get all the white people to panic when a black family moves to their block.
step four: move the white people, the banks, the stores, and the entire tax base to the suburbs.
step five: let drugs, violence, and property crime deteriorate home values even further.
step six: start burning down empty houses.
in about a hundred years, you’re back to where you started.
His photos are the reason I’d love to go to Detroit before entire areas of it sink back into the ground completely…
I never thought about it that way, but JDG makes a good point — everyone likes to take pictures of pretty things. To take a pretty picture of something that isn’t pretty is much more of a challenge.
I think he did a great job with these photos. The images are really powerful. And even though many of these houses are dilapidated, I think they all have a certain “old” charm to them. I’m sure they all have interesting stories to tell….
Thanks for the different viewpoint on photography.
Kelly @ DesignTies
I agree- I think they’re amazingly beautiful photos, because of the emotion they have. I also find them inspiring because of the colours of the homes, the occasional house that’s still standing strong and proud where its neighbours have fallen beside it.
They’re powerful images, and that’s what makes them beautiful to me.
Tragedy is all I think about for downtown Detroit. It’s not quite as simple as the 6 steps. It’s hard to imagine things going so wrong in so many ways. No shortage of photographers who specialize in squalor. Easy to find in Detroit I’m sorry to say.
Oh my goodness. Those are absolutely gorgeous, the way you’ve given them voice to tell their stories.
I feel so sorry for some of them it makes me want to cry and where are the families? The children and dogs in the yard?
This is sad in a way, especially in light of what’s going on now. Thanks for sharing.
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