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Whats the article? Ive been thikning about making trips elsewhere.Originally Posted by kesslerbmw
Kesslerbmw
When I get home I'll try to find it. I found it on Digg one morning before work.
Member
Wow, awesome shots. Most of my family lives in the Detroit area. I just got back from staying at my uncle's house in Troy. I've never thought to go exploring and taking pictures of all this stuff. I'll definitely be heading to the packard plant, since I actually know where that is. I'll probably go with some type of protection, though. You never know what you'll run into in abandoned places, hobos, junkies, homos in super hero suits. I really can't wait to go back now.
- Past: e36 325i | 2001 Carbon M5 -
holla, holla, holla
very cool pics. im suprised that all that shit hasnt been torn down, its kinda a hazard.. oh well, im glad i dont live near there.. its still cool to look at though..
Kesslerbmw
Heres one of many of the articles..
http://weburbanist.com/2007/12/18/7-...-abandonments/
There is links to the rest at the bottom of the page. This stuff really intrigues me. I wanna go!
Don't ask me how I know.
Detroit had a population of 2 million in 1950. The 60s changed all that. Detroit had a large black population, due to Henry Ford's recruitment of blacks trying to escape southern racism. Still, it was pretty much segregated, and the suburbs were starting to grow with white flight. The race riots of 67 really ignited white flight. Corporate headquarters and much of the auto industry fled to the suburbs during the 70s and 80s, propelled in no small measure by the mayor, Coleman Young, who used the race card as often as possible. He was quoted as saying the northern border, 8 Mile Road, was a hostile border and "invaders (whites) from the suburbs would be repelled", etc. Federal policies, such as those practiced by the now defunct HUD, led to large segments of the city being integrated, too often by people who had no respect for the communities they had been moved into.
I grew up in Detroit, in the 70s I watched a community in the Grand River/Greenfield area go right down the tubes, my grandparent's. The home across the street, for example, had been the beautiful home of a couple who had spent their lives in that house. The wife was moved into a home after the husband died, and the home was given to a LARGE family who shat in the bathtub and would take their BBQ into the living room to finish when it started to rain. That home was hole in the earth within a year of them moving in, and the neighborhood is not a place one wants to visit without a good running car. I grew up in the Grand River-6 Mile area, what had been a decent middle class neighborhood became in less than 5 years crime ridden, decaying, unliveable.
As white flight escalated, whole sections of the city deteriorated, abandoned, crime ridden, and the entire time Mayor Young kept the black community agitated with his race baiting. By the 70s, stagflation and the impact of the oil crisis deeply damaged the auto industry. Jobs in the suburbs kept the region segregated, both racially and economically, and by the 90s less than 800,000 people lived in the city proper. As families and jobs fled, the tax base shrank, while the city attempted to provide services by increasing the tax burden on those who stayed. What had once been a vibrant, enormously economically robust region, collapsed under the weight of failed policies and racial unrest in less than 30 years. Detroit is a case study in how not to conduct urban policy and racial unity.
Yes, so true, and its not getting better anytime soon. The entire state is in economic free-fall.
Wonderful pictures. I would ask OP to take a look at West Grand Boulevard. Here now sit the homes of Detroit's old industrial elite, mansions many of them, abandoned, crumbling shells, visible metaphors for the collapse of a once-great city.
It really is sad, and I mean this as one who watched it happen. My grandmother and grandfather used to tell me of going to Hudson's, to Belle Isle, etc, when Detroit was thriving and described the atmosphere and attitude in the 50s as one of hope and confidence in the future. Today, the city is an utter shithole, with pockets of Potemkin-like enclaves that are heavily police-patrolled, such as Campus Martius, the new section of Woodward that houses Comerica Park, etc. The neighborhoods have disintegrated, the infrastructure is crumbling, and there remains little hope. The mayor is under Federal indictment, and many in the city council, once thought to be a viable foil to the mayor's misdeeds, are under investigation for a sludge processing scandal. An article recently about the possible federal bail-out of GM remarked that if they did so, they should stipulate that the headquarters be moved to New York or San Francisco, as no one with the talent to run a major corporation would be stupid enough to want to live in Detroit.
The Packard plant that OP has so beautifully shared with us is in one of the worst areas, I give him credit for having the balls to go down there.
Goddamnit, what a waste.
Edit: Please don't take this as a racist rant, that blacks are responsible for the destruction of this city. Many other communities in this nation are racially integrated and are wonderful places to live. This phenomenon is the result of failed policies, racism, lowered expectations, a rejection of education, of teenage birth, of race baiting by all sides. And its a damned shame that I now think of Detroit as the Mogadishu of America.
To have patience where one can have patience is not real patience...
But to have patience where it is intolerable, then this is real patience.
License Revoked
Camden, NJ comes to mind............google it, it was once a thriving city, home to GE, Campbell Soup, RCA Victor, and a few others......................it's now one of, if not the most dangerous city in America.
ps, I wouldn't go into Camden to take pictures unless you're wearing your body armor and have an assault rifle at the ready.
critic.
gspdave45, thanks for the added insight! always interested in hearing more on the subject.
sure thing! there are places ive been, i dont have photos of. not on flickr anyways. i guess what im saying is, there are more places to go. haha.
no, not really. i mean, sure there are ghetto's everywhere. but you quickly learn where/when you can be somewhere. like i said earlier though. people are much more friendly than you'd expect. ESPECIALLY with all the negative press Detroit gets. rumor has it, Detroit is the most dangerous city in the country. but being that ive spent some time there, i'd debate that any day. sure people have gotten robbed/mugged doing what i do. but i dont know anyone personally. when the sun starts to fall, its time to go home. ive only gone one time by myself. it was stupid, i know. but i was in the area. and i had a few 40's in me.
but like gspdave45 was saying. everything is in sad shape. heres a few shots from a playground on belle isle.
its an actual island in the middle of the detroit river. there is a bridge to get to it. but everything on the island is closed down. like the zoo i posted earlier.
heres a shot of the bridge from the island.
the speed limit is 15mph, i think. but you will see random cars parked all over the place. people drinking, getting high, you name it. believe it or not, there is a police station ON the island. and this stuff still takes place.
as dumpy a town it is, i call it home. there is so much to see. so much history. its not something i can just write off. it holds a place in my heart. as crooked and depressed as it may be. haha. weird i know.
-Dane
Senior Member
Thanks for the pics! Great stories and history on Detroit. Definitely want to see more pics. I've seen a few abandoned buildings in Cleveland but nothing along those lines. I've been up to Detroit once or twice but it was mainly to get away and hit the MGM for a little bit lol. You do see a lot of disrepair in the city along with abandoned buildings. Its sad but unfortunately I don't see it getting any better..
Member
This tread has been a great read, I am from Toledo Ohio, its about an hour and half south, similar thing happened in Toledo too, its really sad to see all the old folks talk about how great these places once were; we see them today and its just a real mess.
- Keith
oh wait...I own an e36!
Opinionated Prick
just wow. thanks for posting these.
Member
Yeah, I wouldn't even attempt to take all that gear without having some firepower.
2000 540i M-sport
1991 Camaro RS LT1/T56 Procharger ATI
"The laws of physics cannot be repealed,
even with ASC+T/DSC" --As stated in the driver's manual.
Shark Hunter
WOW!
I just stumbled on this thread. This is simply amazing, you should have been awarded post of the year.
I have a good friend in the northern suburbs, and I have been looking for an excuse to come visit him. I think you just gave me the final reason.
Stupid question. Can a fellow bf.cer get a tour when you do some more shots? Man I would pay money just to wander around and see these in person.
That island park is so sad. You mean the only people who make it over there are riff-raff and the like? No more families take advantage of it?
Thank you very much. This was quite possibly the best 2 hours spent on the internet for me.
The Great Black Shark
License Revoked
This is a great thread. It really reminds me of seeing pictures from Chernobyl. It is sad that you can make comparisons between the two.
1%
Sweet update pics
Out of curiosity, why don't you crop more from the bottom? I feel like the extra area at the bottom of the image detracts from your work, good composition and subject. That's one of the very few "criticisms" I can ever have of your work -- great GREAT stuff here man.
Edit: to give you examples of what I mean...I'm talking specifically about the first three images in your update post on this page.
Harshmellow
This is a great thread. OP, please post more pics!!
Member
post of the year award nominee right here
Member
Great thread, thanks for sharing.
Member
Those are some amazing shots, I'm going to keep an eye on this thread for a while.
non-member
I think the first time I've ever really appreciated HDR. Great work.
'76 912E -- '90 Miata
Member
Excellent explanation, my friend.
What strikes me the most about these beautiful photographs is how haunting they are. I hope it's helped to open some eyes. People should think about how much work is needed here in our own backyards before jumping on the bandwagon next time to "save" another country. Not every corner of America is bright and sunny like the OC.
2001 S54 LSB/NAPA. 1 of 7.
critic.
oh wow, back from the dead. i havnt had much time to head down and get some shots. i went a few times. but i ended up with a serious buzz each time.
why dont i crop out the bottom?? i dont know. im shooting at 10mm. i like it wide. i love shooting down at the ground. i like the distortion. some dont i suppose.
this is from off the roof of the train station. just the ambassador bridge. windsor ontario on the other side.
a couple buddies at the packard plant.
shit cracks me up still.
it was their first time there. i wouldnt have a problem showing someone around. just shoot me a PM if you're ever in town, or planning on coming into town. we can set something up.
its not a monaco. its a 77 newport. rofl. he got it on ebay, and painted that shit up in his driveway. some guy he works with welded up the push bars.
i think im gonna buy a flash in the next couple days. so that should really open some new doors for me.
i think thats about all i have on flickr. ill go through some of my shots if i have a chance. see if theres anything worth uploading. again, thanks for looking. nice comments are always welcome. haha.
-Dane
1%
Speedlights do indeed open some new doors.
And please don't take what I said about cropped bottoms as me saying I don't like your images -- as I said it's incredible work and just goes to show that it's not the equipment that makes the images -- it's certainly the photographer.
You're incredibly creative with a great eye and fantastic composition in both the foreground and background. These are definitely qualities that can't be bought.
Keep up the good work.
critic.
its cool man. no worries. i appreciate it!
-Dane
Member
Seriously, get yourself some high quality paper/printer and make some prints. Hit the streets, walk-in on some galleries and see what they say. Not much to lose, and plenty to gain. Sell some work, get your name out there, get better equipment and open more doors.
Oh, almost forgot, Wired is running a photo contest on the theme of cities. Check it out.
2001 S54 LSB/NAPA. 1 of 7.
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