These photographs investigate children, teenagers, and young adults raised amidst a backdrop of economic decomposition in the neighbourhoods of Michigan’s auto towns. Adolescence and early adulthood are characterized by both fragile uncertainty and exciting potential. I see these same characteristics reflected in the rebuilding process of the region.
I am particularly interested in the cusps between these age ranges since they are pivotal moments in the formation of individual identity. I frequently encounter the subjects in my pictures in the streets or in empty lots, and they are commonly without adult supervision regardless of their age. I am interested in how these specific locations shape the aspirations and attitudes of their residents. Of particular interest to me is how this under-populated yet developed industrial landscape promotes a type of freedom due to its lack of order.
I grew up skateboarding in many of the actual locations in my photographs. My personal connection to these places allows me to easily converse with my subjects. I am able to capture both the immediacy of the encounter and the unique characteristics that define the people in my images. The choices that individuals make in regards to their own self-image in my photographs indicate clues about their life experiences within the environment where they grew up. I also include landscape and architectural photographs in my project that help provide further contextual information regarding the lives of the people in these neighbourhoods.
The circumstances in Detroit are a large-scale representation of these socioeconomic issues, but there was also a significant ripple effect throughout the state. My project takes a regional look at the process of becoming an adult in economically challenged communities that incorporates places like Saginaw, Flint, Lansing, Grand Rapids, and Ypsilanti, as well as the Detroit metropolitan area. All of these cities were part of the auto industry at some point and have dealt with parallel challenges.