Detroit, perhaps more so than any other American city, has emerged as a symbol of our current economic crisis. Case in point: Thanks to a shoutout in Monday’s foreign policy debate, Mitt Romney’s 2008 op-ed entitled “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt” is the second most viewed article on the New York Times’ website as of today. But for the people of the Motor City, struggling against financial decline is nothing new. They’ve been dealing with it since the 1950s, when the American automobile industry, once the world’s leader, started losing its hold on the market. The population shrank. Businesses shuttered. Then there were the riots of the ’60s. All hope was not lost, however. Or at least that seems to be the theme of Detroit Is No Dry Bones, a show featuring the collected work of Chilean-born, New York-based sociologist and photographer Camilo José Vergara that’s currently up at Washington’s National Building Museum.
Capturing what he calls “a city of contradictions” over the course of the last few decades, Vergara has created a series of photos that are more focused on creating an honest narrative about Detroit’s transformation than shocking the viewer with bleak images of abandoned buildings and neighborhoods in decay. “The story is more complicated,” as he recently explained to Co.Exist. “The story of destruction and ruin goes together with the story of rebirth and utopia.” Click through our slideshow of his work, and see if you agree.
Downtown Detroit, View from Sibley Street down Park Avenue, Detroit, 1991. Photo © Camilo José Vergara
Willie’s Garage, 2520 Michigan Avenue, Detroit, 1991. Photo © Camilo José Vergara
Former Highland Park State Bank (Wood Six Twin Adult Theater), 16549 Woodward Avenue, Highland Park, 1993. Photo © Camilo José Vergara
Former Packard Plant, View towards E. Grand Blvd. along interior road, west of Concord Street, Detroit, 1993. Photo © Camilo José Vergara
Former Michigan Central Station, Detroit, 1993. Photo © Camilo José Vergara
East Palmer Avenue towards Chene Street, a 95 degree day, Detroit, 1995. Photo © Camilo José Vergara
3497 Mack Avenue, Detroit, 2007. Photo © Camilo José Vergara
Del Ray Building, 7716 West Jefferson Avenue, Detroit, 2008. Photo © Camilo José Vergara
Former Highland Park State Bank (Déjà vu Nightclub), 16549 Woodward Avenue, Highland Park, 2009. Photo © Camilo José Vergara
Woodward Avenue at Sibley Street, Detroit, 2009. Photo © Camilo José Vergara
Former Michigan Central Station, View from Dalzelle Street at 15th Street, Detroit, 2010. Photo © Camilo José Vergara
Detroit Mural by Bernard Belafonte, Eastside Check Cashing, McNichols East at Alcoy Avenue, Detroit, 2011. Photo © Camilo José Vergara
Nicky D’s Coney Island, Warren Avenue West at Livernois Avenue, Detroit, 2011. Photo © Camilo José Vergara
Pilgrim Church, Grand River Avenue at Trumbull Street, Detroit, 2011. Photo © Camilo José Vergara
“Detroit Is No Dry Bones,” Ruth Chapel AME Church, East Kirby Street at Baldwin Street, Detroit, 2012. Photo © Camilo José Vergara