Guest Post: Ruins of Detroit

Hello Dear Readers! Ash has honored me with guest blogging this week and I have to admit I have been racking my brains with what fashionable and or inspirational topic I should post about. I used to blog on blogspot, but found that I am too A.D.D to sit down and truly devote a whole post to one subject. I love expressing myself creatively on the Internet however, so I have taken up tumblr, as has Ash. I don't know if y'all have checked it out, its a stripped down "short-form" blog that most people use to just post or re-blog pictures that they like. It's highly addictive and you could get lost in it for hours. She is francaisamericain and I am thelittlebit. Any-who. I decided that photography would be the topic that I bring to the table here at H.I.S.

There is a partnership of photographers in particular that have recently blown me away. They are Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre, and they mainly photograph ruins. On their website they express that;

"Ruins are the visible symbols and landmarks of our societies and their changes, small pieces of history in suspension. The state of ruin is essentially a temporary situation that happens at some point, the volatile result of change of era and the fall of empires. This fragility, the time elapsed but even so running fast, lead us to watch them one very last time : being dismayed, or admire, making us wondering about the permanence of things. Photography appeared to us as a modest way to keep a little bit of this ephemeral state."

One subject, "The Ruins of Detroit" is particularly haunting to me. When looking at these photos I cannot help but be shocked that I am looking at an American city. A city that my husband's family orginated from and have consequently left because of all the economic, social and political turmoil. These images are really quite beautiful and heartbreaking all at the same time. I cannot help but think of all the families and individuals that these spaces once meant so much to. I know that if this was my city I would be outraged. But I also know you cannot stop the winds of change both progressive and destructive. Enjoy.

Erin