Photographer Kevin Bauman took exquisite photographs of 100 abandoned houses in Detroit, Michigan. He has managed to turn the economic crisis, in form of crumbling houses in various stages of disrepair, into an artwork.
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Miles
That Detroit looks like a fun place. The weather, the architecture, the warm and friendly neighborhoods...
A little slice of heaven!
Johnny Cat
He's doing it wrong. All the shots are straight on, but to bring out more of the house's personality, you need to shoot obliquely.
I'd love to see the insides of some of these.
kid_icarus
abandoned house # 15 is the house i wish i had (if it was fixed up and in another city).
Babycakes
they all looked like they've seen better days although picture #64 (?) looked like it was a bunch of trees, I couldn't see the house! But they all looked beautiful or at least like they were beautiful at one point.
faburobin
What does this have to do with the current economic crisis? Detroit's been a sinkhole for decades. None of these houses were mortgaged in the last couple of years.
Mattie
There are plenty of gorgeous and well kept houses in Detroit, too. Detroit isn't some hell hole. There's a lot of beauty, great restaurants, fantastic people and a culture and city trying to dig itself out of a pit Coleman Young and white flight decided to plunge it into.
Just because some guy went into the worst neighborhoods of a city and took photos of abandoned houses doesn't mean it's indicative of everywhere in the city. It's not indicative of MY neighborhood. It's not indicative of my friend's neighborhoods, either.
I love Detroit. It has waaay too many problems to list them right now, but there are a lot of great things happening in this city. Why aren't you finding any of THOSE blog entries, flickr sets or youtube videos?
roger
To call these amateurish photos "artwork" is a real stretch. Each house is unimaginatively photographed from the same frontal view, with little attention to light. As faburobin noted, this has exactly nothing to do with the current economic crisis, as most of these properties were abandoned decades ago. In the 1950s Detroit had millions of people as the auto industry boomed, but today has fewer than a million. With more houses than bodies to fill them, properties went vacant. There seems to be a neverending parade of self-styled artistes who attempt to profit or build their art school portfolios by photographing Detroit's derelict properties, who derive a thrill (or vicariously do so) from exposure to the artifacts of poverty. Detroit does have some remarkable architecture, including many well-preserved mansions built by auto executives before WWII. If anyone is curious about what's to Detroit besides gutted crackhouses, Google "Indian Village Detroit", or check it out here: http://indianvillagedetroit.com/photo-gallery
LisaL
I don't see what was so impressive w/ the photography. Looked pretty bland and very amateurish.
Scotty A
Why can't we create jobs by hiring people to tear these places down?
mo
The photos are bad because the photographer was too afraid to get out of his car. These are drive by's
This sounds like a poser.
I would homestead one of these in a second if i could get a good paying job in the area.
Detroit is still one of the world's most amazing places to learn music or haven't you been listening to motown iggy, mc5 maddona the nuge house music white stripes the last 40 years. Also one of america's best eating towns for the adventurous.
ted
To call them "exquisite" is quite a stretch.
You can find whole books of exquisite art in your local grocery store; they're called "real estate listings".
Jen Diggity
I came on to gripe about the same point as others: these have nothing to do with the current economic crisis. Some of the other comments here are pretty harsh. The photographer doesn't even mention on the page that these houses are in Detroit. Like many other people, he probably just finds old, formerly beautiful houses beautiful in a stark way. I don't see anything wrong with that. I love to take photographs and I am sure there is a lot I need to learn about the art form, but I would never let the fact that I'm not the best stop me from having fun and, damn it, posting them to my site if I frickin want to. Calling a guy a poser because his photos aren't to your standards or taken from the same angle you would have? You guys are seriously harsh.
roger
Jen Diggity: did you notice he was trying to sell these for $100-$500 a print? If he were just some guy having fun with a camera and posting on Flickr, I don't think you would have seen the negative reactions above. But he's a professional photographer, not just some guy "having fun" (although the photos do have that appearance).
atanguay
I was in Detroit just last night having a great dinner with my best friend. It was so busy that it was hard to find somewhere to park. Walked along and saw this going on...
http://flickr.com/photos/gosia007/3260903826/
Ice sculptures, ice dancers, portable toboggan run, and kids waiting to get onto the ice rink.
I've really just about had it with all of these 'Detroit Sucks' stories here on Neatorama. There are many MANY cities with problems and decaying areas. I'm sure I can take a great 'check out the crap' tours of Pittsburg, Columbus, and Memphis. But another story about Detroit's vacant houses is a trip to the front page. Not Neat at all.
On top of it being just about enough, as mentioned above, these photos are bland and frankly cowardly drive-bys. I've walked up to several of these houses while out taking photos...there are much better ways to shoot these that don't look like they were taken for a real estate catalog. Several I recognize in particular are a block away from great new developments and the city just hasn't had the chance to sweep these places away yet.
Sorry for the rant, but this one was the straw that broke the back...some very weak photos that some guy is trying to sell and help make sure Detroit's image stays in the toilet for as long as humanly possible.
Enough.
tanya
i have been shooting abandoned houses in Miami for years now. I went to see this website to look at some good art but I was pretty disappointed. I agree these are just drive by's. I personally go into each location and note the history and details. Furthermore I am professional and would never ever sell a picture for 150 dollars. They show too much street and the lighting is bland.
i love abandoned photographers but thsi was not one of my favs.
Pete
Wow, drive by shooting? this isn't a gang war guys.
This is a collection of photos, the same angle and type of colors and lighting were kept to keep consistancy within the collection.
It's just something this guys doing, for fun, or for money who cars?
Jamie
I found the photos both touching and sad. From that perspective, it has accomplished what art is meant to accomplish. It isn't about shooting obliquely or getting out of your car. Every iconic photograph has broken the rules, even if it means not being interesting enough for the art school masses.
With respect to Mattie and atanguay, I agree. I lived in Windsor for a few years and would often cross the bridge to come to Detroit. The people who revel in kicking Detroit are the same who dismissed Chicago, New York and Cleveland when they were at their lowest.
atanguay
"It’s just something this guys doing, for fun, or for money who cares?"
I care, because I'm just completely sick of Detroit getting kicked while it's down...over and over and over. As I mentioned above, there is a real and concrete revitalization of parts of Detroit that are being completely ignored. Areas that I would never go into as a kid and young adult are great destinations to go to now. And the city has suffered and worked really hard to make that happen. Like I said before...enough.
farlane
I care too.
Detroit was one of the first cities to plumb the depths of what happens when the "Old Economy" crumbles. It will not be the last.
It may even be that people are shooting Drive-bys in your town long after Detroit has been reborn in the Next Economy.
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