General

Detroit’s decline, in pictures

Capturing the urban decay of Motor City in all its terrible beauty

This comes a tad late for Christmas, but for that special American declinist on your list consider The Ruins of Detroit, a collection of photos capturing the urban decay of Motor City in all its terrible beauty. Since the start of the great recession, the End of the American Empire crowd hasn’t been able to get enough of images from Detroit’s burned out factories. This coffee table book should just about do the trick. The book is due to be published later this year, but the accompanying site offers plenty of preview pictures. Many look like they could have been movie stills from any of last year’s end of days blockbusters. Some pics of note to check out: the mangled keys of an abandoned church piano, the eery site of children’s overturned desks at St. Margaret Mary School, a dental office that looks like it was abandoned mid-filling, and any of the crumbling theaters that despite the dust and peeled paint still look more majestic than any modern multiplex.

Yves Marchand & Romain Meffre Photography

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