I live in Baltimore, Maryland. I stumbled into photography & started taking pictures about 10 years ago. One of my favorite places to photograph is Detroit — it is probably the most visually fascinating city in the U.S.A. It is filled with re-purposed buildings and hand-painted commercial signs, and art and self-expression covers most public spaces (and not just from graffiti artists and taggers.) Any bare wall becomes a place to communicate a message, and apocalyptic quotations from The Bible are commonplace. I was talking with a guy who ran a towing operation, and when he started his business he had a local sign painter add his favorite bible verse to his building (“No Weapon Formed Against Me Shall Prosper, He’s My Lord -N- Conqueror”) along with several superhero cartoon characters. There is a lot of vibrancy and alive-ness in Detroit, and those who never get past the “ruins” miss out on what is truly interesting about the city.
- Evan Helfrich Detroit I
- Evan Helfrich Detroit II
- Evan Helfrich Detroit III
- Evan Helfrich Detroit IV
- Evan Helfrich Detroit III