Painting Detroit

[southen]

how did you challenge yourself?

you do things differently, you make sure you are thinking outside of the box. when im in a rut or finding out how to view things different i go out shooting with just one lens. often times i bust out the 50mm 1.4 and go downtown and start shooting. i cant zoom, i cant get wide, so it forces me to be creative and view things differently. limit your equipment and you will see things differently.

you can also bring new elements into the situation. i had had my fill of mcs shots and got tired of seeing other peoples photos of it. it had been done. then i shot a wedding with an incredible couple, both architects and huge supporters of the city, so we decided to get in there and see if we couldnt get some cool shots. that was a challenge for me and something new to make the place more interesting. sure people have taken models into these places, but a couple in a wedding dress and suit? i still think i was the first to do it. some examples...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/southen...7605559479721/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/southen...7605559479721/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/southen...7605559479721/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/southen...7605559479721/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/southen...7605559479721/

push yourself as a photographer. its natural and good to explore other artistic avenues, but when the combination of the two isnt original or done well it detracts from both. some of the things i do like, like the painted truck, but a lot of the splatter lacks creativity and like ive referenced, appears to be just vandalism.

thats just my take and how i would approach trying to do new things in some of these places. you can be creative and send a message without being destructive or doing the same old ruin porn that has been done.

[hermousefriday]

I noticed it's become popular to blame students and suburbanites on all the city's problems. Like it or not, this so called "ruins porn" is getting the city a lot of press. And yes, it's even got people traveling here from all over the world, especially Germany. It's even inspiring young people to move back here and renovate old homes. I think it's because the photographers are showing that there IS beauty and potential underneath all the rut. I'm not gonna complain about that.

[warsaw7]

[Gannon]

Geez Ryan...how long did the reception have to wait until you got all those?!

Wonderful work.


I like the one with the light streaming in from the archway. Dazzling.

[southen]

thanks gannon.

we actually did it a month in a half after the wedding. we spent the entire morning in there.

[Django]

And I thought I had my ass kicked in the past here on Dyes, geezus. Some of you all have blown this way out of proportion.

John, I dig your work. Your young and finding your way and I personally have no problem with painting the inside of a building that is going to have either its plaster torn out to rehab it or the whole building torn down to the ground to remove what some would consider an eyesore. The worst Ive seen you do is get a little paint on the sidewalk. Personally Id rather see the colors while driving down that street than the never ending grey of buildings that haven't been taken care of in years. It doesn't make it right but I personally prefer your paint to the drab of rot. I'm sickened by some of the posts here and see some of it near stalking.

I caught a lot of shit here early on this site, I was young and had no idea ppl actually cared about these old buildings. Who would have thunk someone would care whether someone did more than leave footprints in the Packard, I didnt but I did learn a lot from this site right here and took it in and changed my ways as best I could. I would suggest you take what you can from these folks here and work your art with what you can stomach karmacally..


People dont just decide their going to to be an artist and the next day start splattering paint on canvas and become overwhelmed with lovers of your work like say, hmmmm, Jackson Pollock. Artist's go through a lot of changes and phases while finding out what they do thats worthy, many times ignoring the critics and sometimes the law. Sometimes it pays off and the work becomes so big that the crime may be worth the contribution of art to the world. If Keith Haring had listened to his early critics and the NYPD we wouldnt have the work of Keith Haring with all his early evil vandalism of marking subway cars. MaJ. would have a career out of trying to ruin him if she had lived in NYC back in his heyday

Ive always been a photographer of mainly people, Im not a stage setter, I like whats naturally happening. Im not a big fan of of anything thats been photographed before unless its in a transition. I do like the so called ruin porn because its constantly changing. I can look at a pic of of the MCS lobby today and compare it to a pic ten years ago and notice the changes. I like seeing how the Packard has changed over the past three years. The Packard is going down at some point so it should be documented. I dont really want to see another pic of the guardian building because it looks the same as it did 40 years ago for the most part. You can buy all the tricky lenses to make the lights shine different or the corners curve but in your mind you know your looking at the same damn building, same as it ever was. Im not sure where your heading with painting and shooting but I do think your heading in a direction that could eventually hit. Here in Detroit we are overwhelmed with pics of decay but the rest of the world is still fascinated so I dont see a problem with sharing it but then again I dont worry about what ppl think of our city because if they dont like what they see I probably dont want them as my neighbor. All the pussies who worry about what Seattle's high society thinks about us can KMA .

Have you checked out Andy Goldsworthy, probably you have. http://www.rwc.uc.edu/artcomm/web/w2...EST/index.html
He does the same type of photography as you only more gentle.

Dont let em get you down, live and learn. Take what you need from here and work with what you can. I get the feeling that many of these "preservationists are just on a bandwagon and have nothing better to do than try and look up who you are and where you live. It doesnt matter where your from, your here now, be here now.

Oh yeah, one more thing. Some years ago I did some gorilla artwork on Belle Isle and a lot of ppl loved it but there were two women who made a big stink about it, they hated it. I often wanted to find them and thank them because they brought me more publicity than I could ever dream of. Choose your words and actions carefully.