Monday, March 31, 2014

Composite photographs of a now abandoned high school in Detroit.

Through photography, detroiturbex.com seeks to raise awareness of the social and economic challenges facing the city of Detroit. Over the course of 100 years the population level has rapidly expanded and contracted. In the 1950s the population was approximately 1.85 million, in 2010, it was 713,000.
The recent contraction means many of the buildings that were erected to support the rapid growth are now vacant and abandoned. The infrastructure was built to handle a population of 2 million. Only a third of that currently resides in Detroit.
In a fascinating series entitled Cass Tech – Now and Then, detroiturbex has created a 43-picture gallery of old photos and found the exact location of where they were taken and made a composite of the past and present.
While the original Cass Tech was left abandoned for some time, a new Cass Technical High School was built in 2004 in an adjacent lot to the north of the original building. According to Wikipedia, the original building was demolished in July of 2011.
Much more at the link.  I'd bet that you could not find any similar pictures from modern day Hiroshima or Nagasaki.
Below, a basketball game in 1988.




2 comments:

  1. I am reminded of the norman Rockwell picture of the little black girl being escorted to school if only mr Rockwell could see what he helped create!when our school was desegrated in 1967 it went to hell in a hand basket in no time.thats when I was living outside Williamsburg va.thank the good lord I came home to the montains of nc to raise my kids.we have nearly zero diversity and multiculturalism here.its funny before desgragation I believed we could get along I had got along fine with older blacks but something happened to them in the sixtys.its enuff to break your heart your friend truckwilkins

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  2. Detroit is a progressive paradise. It's what they build - at VAST expense in treasure and just as much in devastated human capital.

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