Best Photo Locations: Detroit

Photo: Sean Hemmerle

If you’re primarily an on-location photographer or filmmaker, then you know how much value a great location can add to the shoot. This is the blog’s new series, Best Photo Locations, where I feature supercool locations around the world. Stuff I discover, stuff that others send me, places I’d love to shoot. Of course feel free to chime in, share, link, or otherwise contribute in your own way.

Detroit: Rich with economic and cultural history. The once thriving city was a manufacturing stronghold at the heart of America’s industrial power. The Motor City’s struggles have been well-documented. Today, left in the wake of the city’s fallen industry, there is a fertile landscape for incredible images. While definitely economically downtrodden, a visit in the past 24 hours has proven that there is grace, optimism and inspiration alive and well in the city and culture of Detroit. Indeed the architectural landscape has, as a local friend put it, “lost its connective tissue,” as a result of abandoned swaths of downtown; nonetheless, it’s impossible to spend time in Detroit and not feel the potential for renewal. Click through the images above to see some of photographer Sean Hemmerle’s project on Detroit: “Rust Belt.” Haunting, beautiful and sad, Hemmerle’s work shines a light on former architectural grandeur while commenting on the undeniable social decline of a legendary American city.

If you have shots of Detroit, please share links in the comments section.
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On a personal note, I experienced some great music thanks to some local friends. We caught some live jazz, the Mike Monford Trio, at Cliff Bells on Park Avenue. I found that there is still plenty of music, literally and figuratively, in Detroit.