Book : Found photos in Detroit. Detroitism by John Patrick Leary. What does “ruin porn” tell us about the motor city, ourselves, other American cities? Photograph by Yves Marchan and Romain Meffre courtesy Steidl. Red Dawn 2, the forthcoming sequel to the nineteen eighties B-movie about a Soviet occupation of America, was shot last year in downtown Detroit.
A long-abandoned modernist skyscraper coincidentally undergoing demolition served as a backdrop for battle scenes between American guerrillas and the Communist occupiers, now Chinese. For weeks, Chinese propaganda posters fluttered in the foreground of the half-destroyed office building, whose jagged entrails were visible through the holes opened by the wrecking ball. A pedestrian routinely bumped into Asian-American extras with Michigan accents and fake Kalashnikovs, while a parking garage played the role of a Communist police station. “Do you have any books with pictures of abandoned buildings?” Demanded a customer of a bookseller friend of mine at Leopold’s Books in Detroit. The Detroit Lament. Detroit Lost And Found: Vintage Photos Speak Volumes : The Picture Show. Hide caption These photos from the 1960s-1990s were found by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.
Cesuralab Hide caption These photos from the 1960s-1990s were found by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit. Cesuralab Hide caption These photos from the 1960s-1990s were found by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit. Cesuralab Hide caption These photos from the 1960s-1990s were found by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit. Cesuralab Hide caption These photos from the 1960s-1990s were found by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit. Cesuralab Hide caption These photos from the 1960s-1990s were found by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit. Cesuralab Hide caption These photos from the 1960s-1990s were found by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit. Cesuralab Hide caption These photos from the 1960s-1990s were found by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.
Forgotten Detroit. Finding “Lost Detroit” Among the Ruins - The Detroit Blog - TIME.com. “Every building in Detroit has a story.” And, thankfully, Dan Austin and Sean Doerr are the storytellers. Austin, 29, is the main wordsmith. Doerr, 20, is the photographer. Together, their not-for-profit “Buildings of Detroit” web site gives life to edifices otherwise left for dead. Austin and Doerr also are the authors of newly released “Lost Detroit: Stories Behind the Motor City's Majestic Ruins.” Sean Doerr A self-professed history nerd, Austin accepted my challenge of chatting about the book, the view from his front porch (think giant, dilapidated train station) and his challenge to the billionaires who own these “ruins” all while patiently waiting for a 426-pound pallet of books to show up Tuesday. Read on, bibliophiles. Some background from the BoD site: “BuildingsofDetroit.com is a two-person effort by historian, author and photographer Dan Austin and photographer Sean Doerr to spread awareness of Detroit's architectural history.
Q: How did the book come about? P.S. Photos from 'Lost Detroit' | freep.com | Detroit Local News | Detroit Free Press. Sleeping Giants: Dan Austin Talks Lost Detroit. PURE DETROIT — Dan Austin grew up in the suburbs, but strip malls and big box stores didn’t hold his interest for long. As a copy editor for a local newspaper, Austin would find himself moving downtown and riding the People Mover every day into his office. A red, Italian Renaissance skyscraper would catch his eye every day. But with no signage or any information to be learned from those walking by, Austin turned to his research. The skyscraper would turn out to be the now-demolished Statler Hotel (the hotel Houdini was staying in when he passed) and would act as the catalyst for Austin’s new project, BuildingsOfDetroit.com.
The popular website would be the proving grounds for Lost Detroit: Stories Behind the Motor City’s Majestic Ruins, a book documenting buildings like the Statler Hotel from a historic, factual and yet personal perspective (available at all three Pure Detroit locations). Since its release in fall of 2010, Lost Detroit has sold more than 7,500 copies.