The Ruins of Detroit

An article in the January 2011 issue of the British Journal of Photography really caught my eye today about a book by Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre - 'The Ruins of Detroit'.  Images from the book can be seen here

The pair set out to photograph the once majestic buildings, built of the wave of prosperity that the motor industry brought, but have since been abandoned and fallen into decay. They have managed to capture the sudden decline from affluence in choosing some startling subjects.

'18th floor dentist cabinet, David Broderick Tower' shows an apparently complete dental surgery that if it were not for the decay, could be still in use today.  Photographing from an 'entering the room' angle makes the decay seem all the more striking.  One could almost have strolled in for an appointment.  

'William Livingstone House' is quite starling in so much that this once ornate upmarket dwelling has been simply left to decay and begin collapsing in on itself.  The photograph works in it's simplicity.  It's a straight on shot of the house with nothing in particular around it other than a chain link fence.  The overcast sky and absence of adjacent buildings adds to the sense of abandonment.

'Classroom, St Margaret Mary School' depicts a classroom that appears to have simply never been returned to after the end of a school day.  Exercise books and paper can be seen laying on the floor and there is even what appear to be teachers notes on the chalk board.

'St Christopher House, ex-Public Library' sees the sad sight of a library that was abandoned so quickly, that they didn't even finish removing the books.  Taking the photograph from the librarian's station gives the impression of a sad librarian taking a final look at their once proud empire.

'Room 1504, Lee Plaza Hotel' continues the theme of abandonment.  The room seems complete, yet in a terrible state of decay and one imagines a catastrophic event that simply removed the people from the scene in an instant.

The photographs have a high level of contrast and look to me as if they may have been processed using High Dynamic Range techniques.  This gives the images a very detailed and almost painted appearance, which I like.  Marchand & Meffre have used viewpoints that give the viewer thefeeling they have just entered the room or that they have some sort of connection with the scene, as in 'St Christopher House, ex-Public Library' .  This empowers to viewer to feel the decay and imagine what these once proud buildings were like in their prime.  Viewing these photographs tell a story by capturing extraordinary scenes in an almost 'matter of fact' way.  The processing techniques also add to the drama of the imagery, creating a slightly surreal  ambiance.