When I left suburbs north of Detroit to go to college in
West Michigan, I was OK to say goodbye to the big city. My hometown was
exploding with growth, and the busy-ness and traffic and overall sprawl were
more of a nuisance to me than anything to get excited about. I liked the change
of pace and quietude of living amid wooded ravines to my east and cornfields in
every other direction.
Though I don’t come from Detroit proper, many of my best childhood
memories happened there: live jazz on the weekends at Hart Plaza, the rise of
the People Mover, concerts at Joe Louis…
It wasn’t until I’d been away for quite a long time that I
truly appreciated it. And started to miss it. But by then it had fallen down.
Hard. Driving through the city would make my heart ache. I would fantasize
about moving back and being part of its rebirth. (I still do, honestly.)
Though that isn’t a practical option for me right now, I can
at least live vicariously through Brian Kelly Photography’s Detroit Portraits Project.
You can read about it from the beginning here.
I just received in the mail the portrait I was promised in
exchange for helping back the project:
 |
| The project, including my pic, #15, is documented here. |
I chose this one because it represents to me in one hand
desolation and in the other, albeit artificial, the illumination of hope.
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