remeber when you were a kid

and you showed your mom how good you were at coloring between the lines? even though you fucking sucked ass, she would always tell you what a great job you did, and how she was proud of you...i think that kind of mentality fucked a lot of people up, for the long term... the world is full of delicate geniuses, each one of them looking for their proverbial mother to tell them how wonderful they are...the yellows and greens all over the page, mixed in with the reds, the whites, the lines have been blurred- by these self absorbed egomaniacs...you can see it all over the internet, it's everywhere... i try my best to stay away from it, away from them... somewhere along the way though, i decided to stop talking about the problem, i decided to do "my thing" quietly, but i don't think i'm going to do that anymore? i'm going to talk about it every once in while, i need to say what's on my mind, that is after all why i have this blog, isn't it?

perhaps we were the last people to stand here?

who knows...
that light coming from behind the camera
is a large hole, busted in to the back side of the school...
this is another shot of mine that i never really cared for,
but i had a chance to re-shoot it
and i'm glad that i did, because now it's gone...

well

we had to get this shot right, because
there's no going back to re-do this one!

so here's my updated photo of the cass tech auditorium

i finally got one that i like.
an added bonus for me was the ceiling lights that had either fallen or been lowered by scrappers, or maybe the demo crew?
these downed lights add to the beautifully deteriorated state of the room, and they offer a timeline, to an otherwise cliche shot of an abandoned detroit classic. (i'm really proud of myself, huh?)

i also like that since the curtain is gone, you can just barely see daylight coming through the back wall, right at the stage floor...the only reason that there's any significance to that, is the fact there's supposed to be a building there, and not daylight. the demolition crew was literally inches away from busting through the auditorium's back stage wall...talk about cutting it close?

my first time here was in 2007, and for some reason i never was able to get this shot quite right. sometimes i let places/buildings get away from me, and i get busy with other locations, or shots...i'm glad that i didn't let this one slip away, i've allowed that to happen too many times, already...in photography and in life,
but that's a story for another time.
now isn't it?

so the old cass tech high school is being demolished

and i'm pretty sure that there is no redevelopment plan in place?

anyway

this photograph of the auditorium is from 2009

i have one from 2007 that's straight on, but it's terrible

and it will likely never see the light of day?

now,

i'm not too thrilled about this shot

but anyone who knows this place, knows how dark it is/was inside of the auditorium

and since cameras kind of require light...

the thing that always bothered/bothers me, was/is trying to

light this room without casting shadows from the ceiling lights...as you can see, i have a few shadows,

whatever

you try and do a better job, and then you can judge me (assholes)....oh, that's right, this room is gone now, demolished, so....yeah!

well,

just so happens that it took all the way up until 2011, well in to the demolition, before i would get my updated, better looking/less shadows shot from this place...

i know i said i wasn't going to post any new content, but i'll make an exception for this, especially since i have some other demo shots that i'll also post, starting maybe tomorrow? or the next day?

anyway...

i don't know for sure

if this shot is still possible?
either way, i'm happy that i managed to get this one...
i couldn't have squeezed in to a corner any tighter, then
it took to shoot this photograph.
it seems like most asylums have a classic bathtub shot?
i'm not sure if this hospital does/did, but an old claw foot cast iron bathtub
sure seems like a classic to me?



more photos from this great location can be found here...

the longest day of the year

fuck
this image really doesn't have anything to do with today,
it just is what it is
i'm not really sure if i ever posted this on my blog,
when i was uploading to flickr, i neglected posting here...
whatever

in an attempt

to hold on to all of my new images (believe it or not, they're really adding up)
i'm posting this old shot
from new jersey
there was a mexican gentleman cutting the grass
right where the hole in the fence was located
as you can see,
he didn't prevent us from going inside...

charles bukowski said

to watch out for people who give too much praise
because they are looking for praise in return...

boom

this is from 2004

the lakeside trailer park, detroit.
i was taking a film class when i shot this
i remember wandering around the property
with an old 35mm minolta,
i didn't really know how to take a photograph
or what to shoot for that matter, but it never kept me from trying...
while i'm not too crazy about this shot
i think it's pretty good considering it's 7 years old,
and that 99% of what i was shooting back then will never see the light of day,
it's sad really, because i have so many great locations on film, most of them gone now, demolished...
oh well
i didn't end up with any other shots from here that i like enough to put on the web, but at least i have this one...

i have nothing

an old picture
of the dequindre cut
back when it was abandoned
and overgrown
i think this is 2007?
whatever...

you can't find me on facebook

or twitter

my flickr account is no longer updated,

fuck, you can barely find me here, on this blog...

i'm still out there shooting, collecting images,

infiltrating,

making moves,

daring to dream,

you get the idea?

yesterday we ran feverishly

from building to building
keeping an eye out
for the unidentified truck that we thought might be chasing us...

today,
i tried to fix my dryer,
and i think i might have been successful...

i'm working on my website

listening to music
alone
in this room
and i have decided to call it an early night
having edited an image of
a soul that has long since been dead
there's nothing more that i can say
or do...
so goodnight.

i'm not the kind of motherfucker who shucks his corn at the grocery store

no
i do that shit in the privacy of my own home
i'm not even sure why it's allowed?
you don't get to peel your potatoes before you bring them home, do you?
but then again, i'm a classy dude...