Thursday, May 8, 2008

Flint Photos: Bishop Avenue

A portrait by 21-year-old Flint photographer Justin Clanton.



5 comments:

  1. Enough already. Justin, we get the picture, Flint is a dump. Snapping photos of dilapidated Flint houses is gauche and about as passé as skateboarding and emo music. Look, any wanker with a digital camera can take "stark and haunting" pictures in Flint. Take a hint from Flint original Adam Gerics: buy one of those houses and take a stand!!

    http://www.mlive.com/flgalleries/gallery.ssf?/cgi-bin/slide-show.cgi/mlive/slide_show.ata?index=9&g_id=1024

    Sorry Gordon, don't mean to be so negative but images of urban decay taken by art students get on my nerves.

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  2. Here is an even better photo of Adam.

    http://www.mlive.com/flgalleries/gallery.ssf?/cgi-bin/slide-show.cgi/mlive/slide_show.ata?index=8&g_id=1024

    If only a fraction of suburban emo art students could be more like him...

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  3. Smurfs...you make a good point. I looked back over all my posts and I have gone a little overboard on this. For some reason I can take the photos more than the overwrought writing of the urban planners who have adopted
    Flint as there pet project and prime example of the decline of America. I vow to take a break from my urban decay porn. (Although I usually turn to it when I'm out of other material, so I may be in trouble.)

    And I also vow to get a hold of Adam. Do you happen to have any contact info on him? If so, email me at gordieyoung (at) sbcglobal (dot) net

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  4. But wasn't the Gerics clan from Clio, not Flint? And I really don't mind the urban decay porn. However, I also like shipwrecks.

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  5. Urban decay doesn't bother me either, but I sort of like old stuff. I see potential, not depression.

    But smurfs has a point... why not take a shot of some beautiful houses that aren't decaying... they're out there... and worth a snap, just like those 50's photos were worth a snap.

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Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.