Now that I've decided to take a break from Detroit, I am realizing a few things, mostly that sweeping through Detroit felt more like a dare than working on a photo project.
I've always felt an oddness to the east side of the area (Detroit) where I live, that it is another world, a place that I can't totally relate to. It really is different. I'm more interested in books, art, gourmet coffee and foods, art films, world music, art rock, alt. rock, etc. The east side ain't like that at all.
The east side is more hard working class people (or it used to be...before the erosion of the middle class in Amerika), lots of flat one story ranch homes lined up in a row, churches, party stores, big screen televisions for sports, etc. That is not me.
The west side is not all artsie, mind you, but there are (or were, before the corporatism of Amerika through monopoly capitalism eradicated so many small businesses)or were more bookstores, alt rock music shops, ethnic restaurants, art galleries, and a wider diversity of houses and buildings.
It's to the 'burbs I go now. I want to capture my feeling of this strangeness I sense in the east. I most want to capture documentation of how people create space in their personal space that exemplifies or displays their personal belief systems. Religious statuary is more common in the east (side of Metro Detroit) and I love the challenge of finding some compelling photos/images of what I find in this land that makes me feel like a stranger in a strange land.
Detroit isn't going anywhere, so a diversion will be nice.
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