I received an email the other day containing a description and photos of an amazing urban phenomenon, the Michigan Central Station, a Beaux-Arts masterpiece designed by the same firm that designed Grand Central Station in New York. However, the now-defunct Michigan Central has been vacated and abandoned to the elements. The photo you see here is one of several that look more like paintings than photos, and the more I look at them, the more I think they are not Photoshopped portraits but legitimate photographic images of a mind-boggling and almost unfathomable urban ruin right here in the United States. Without further ado, check out this piece about Michigan Central Station, and for more information, read about it on Wikipedia. And if your visual curiousity gets the best of you and you want to see more, additional photos can be found on forgottendetroit.com.
About
Writer, editor, photojournalist, cartoonist, Beverly Spicer is the E-Bits columnst at The Digital Journalist, a video and photojournalism webzine at http://digitaljournalist. org. She is a diarist and author of two books. Her undergraduate degree is in physiological psychology and biological sciences, and she has a interdisciplinary Master of Science in architectural studies combining architecture, neuroscience, and Middle Eastern studies. .
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Beverly, when I opened this post and glanced at the picture, I thought this was an old ruin from Europe. It’s just so graceful and lovely. But it’s in Michigan? There’s hope for us Americans! Surely we still have the potential for this sort of artistry in our DNA …
When I first saw your post, I thought you were referring to something I found on BoingBoing last week. The Detroit school book depository, apparently located right next to Michigan Central Station, and it’s filled with rotting books. Imagine the photo above, with the floor covered in a sea of books and papers.
Or just check out the photo set on Flickr.
In my opinion, it’s a city’s tragedy - both for the decaying building and the books, and all the schools that let their budgets go to rot.
I just realized my link is to the same photographer as yours. Oops. These images must have struck a chord all around the internet. But anyhow, I thought this was an interesting comment on her blog:
“I’m also from Detroit, and have never heard of the book repository, but when I see it, I’m not saddened, and I think that’s a biproduct of living in this city for so long. I can’t imagine any way where the DPS could not have let this happen… with the disarray that the school system has been in since the mid-70s (and probably earlier), I’m sure that everyone involved with closing that site had meant to mention to someone else to clear it out, but the message got lost in the ridiculous bureaucracy. I’m sure that there’s another depot somewhere in the city that has all the toilet paper and paper towels that the schools have been missing for 20 years as well… just forgotten.”
Check out this flickr photo pool:
Decayed yet Hauntingly Beautiful
BEAUTIFUL! And yes, quite haunting. Quite hauntingly beautiful.
This reminds me of an admonition given during a funeral some time ago: From dust came you, to dust you shall return. Homo Sapiens has not long been in existence. How long we will remain around is a mystery.
If you go to the Honey Island Swamp and try to follow Old US !!, you will find the swamp reclaiming the concrete highway. Who knows what was around 100,000 ago? Who knows what will remain 100,000 years hence?