Category: Text
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Broadway: Gary, Indiana
Broadway, Gary, Indiana’s derelict commercial main street, is getting a makeover. While the street’s storefronts have been significantly altered over the years, the current homogenizing modifications are surely among the most startling. Below are photographs from 2007 and 2009 that illustrate one aspect of the transformation. August 30, 2007 December 9, 2009
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The Opportunity Shop
A variety of new efforts at reconceptualizing the built environment are emerging as communities grapple with vacancies caused by the economic downturn. I’ve recently become involved with one of the many new initiatives on the South Side of Chicago: The Op Shop. As described by its founders, who run Home Gallery: The Opportunity Shop is…
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Camden, New Jersey Street Motorcycle Races
Every weekend, motorcycle and all terrain vehicle enthusiasts gather on the north side of Camden, New Jersey. Driven from most city streets by the police, the participants converge in and around Pyne Poynt Park to race amongst a patchwork of row houses and vacant lots. The riders are predominantly male, ethnically diverse and range in…
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Depicting River Rouge, Michigan
Over the summer, one of my favorite places to visit was the city of River Rouge. The city borders Detroit on its southern edge and includes the entirely industrial Zug Island. I was recently looking for more information about the city, when I found its website and discovered some hilarious surprises in its photography gallery,…
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October Fast Track Abatement Program Map
Chicago’s Fast Track Abatement Program is a final step for buildings deemed by the city to be “vacant” and “open” and “constitute a hazard to the community.” Owners of buildings on the list must take corrective action upon receiving notice of the condition of the building. If they do not, the city reserves the ability…
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Detroit in Three Dimensions
I spent a lot of time thinking about how I might novelly approach photographing Detroit while preparing to go there for the summer. While my main approaches were to address living with abandonment and visual representations of the public/private divide using traditional digital photography, I spent some time considering how different photographic methods might augment…