While living in Detroit (1981-83) I photographed extensively. Then as now, it was a struggling city and the struggle was visible in many of its manifestations of material culture. My work eventually coalesced into three series with distinct subjects and formal structures

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"Pillars of the Community" documents sixty banks that had been built during the city's most prosperous decade - the 1920s - only to be put out of business in the 1929 crash. These buildings survived, but never again functioned as banks. Instead they were repurposed, often, many times. The series was shot as 4X5 color transparencies.

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"Fortifications" documents over 200 storefronts that had windows replaced with concrete blocks, bricks, and other crime-resistant materials. It was shot as 35mm color slides and it is presented as a sequenced slideshow with an audio track.

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"Abrupt Transitions" is a set of multi-frame panoramas made to present very wide-frame views of places of transition, often from well-kept residential blocks to struggling commercial corridors. The panoramas consist of individual photographic frames physically collaged onto a backing board.

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Click on an image to enter the series.