Y is for Yellow … as in yellow Chevy Nomad

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Chevy Nomad

Chevy Nomad, photo by pbosker2001.

In the Absolute Michigan group on Flickr, there’s a thread of Michigan photos from A to Z that just finished its third time through the alphabet.

This photo of a Chevy Nomad (made available in wallpaper sized glory) was taken at the annual Grand Rapids Metro Cruise in August of 2007.

I’m guessing that the owner would find it easy to join the Chevy Nomad Club. Wikipedia’s entry for the Chevrolet Nomad says:

The Nomad’s unique design had its roots in a General Motors Motorama show car of the same name that was based on the Corvette. The Concept was introduced at the GM Motorama in 1954 as one of Head Stylist, Harley Earl’s “dream cars”…

There have been two Nomad concept cars. The first one from 1999 was based on the F-body (Camaro) and was V8 powered. The second concept presented in 2004 was based on the GM Kappa platform, and highly resembled the original 1954 Corvette-based Nomad showcar.

You can see the 2004 Nomad concept (though I prefer the 1955-57 Nomad) and check out this year’s concepts at the Detroit Auto Show.

Exposure.Detroit January 2008 Photography Exhibit

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Packard Proving 058 B&W 4x6

Packard Proving 058 B&W 4×6, photo by Kevin Ridge Photo.

Kevin is one of a large number of very talented photographers who will be presenting work at the Exposure.Detroit January 2008 Photography Exhibit. He took this photo on one of the group’s photo safaris to the Packard Proving Grounds – check out his photos from the outing and/or everyone’s.

What: Exposure.Detroit January 2008 Photography Exhibit
When: 7pm-10pm ~ January 18th, 2008
Where: The Bean & Leaf Cafe, Royal Oak, MI
Who: 30 of Exposure.Detroit’s finest photographers

Coming to you via the coffee coated walls of the Bean & Leaf Cafe (the BLC) is the next round of talented Michigan photographers (in no particular order):Exposure.Detroit January 2008 Show

Ledio
LAWRENCEcreative
Ken Jacoby
Amy Palomar
Vanessa Miller
Ryan Southen
Mike Harabedian II
Mark F. O’Brien
One Foot Over The Moon
Detroit Derek
Stephanie Aust
C.J. Peters
Meghan East
David M. Haupt
St. Laurent Photography
Larry Carr
Scott Carey
Kyle Engelhart
James Szewczyk
Keith Burgess
Becky Layton
Ross Sandelius
Kevin Ridge
Rob Terwilliger
Patrick Simpson
David Kohrman
Paul Nichol
Paul K
John Levanen
Alexander J. Hernandez

what do YOU value?

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

what do YOU value?

what do YOU value?, photo by artsy_T.

Tina writes:

was driving home from work yesterday. the sun was shining (it rarely does that anymore here). so i spotted this, which i drive past everday. it looked different to me. so i shot it. and of course, immediately started thinking of all the things in my life i value. there are LOTS. how ’bout you?

So … what do YOU value?

She also has a spiffy new web site (complete with a happy song).

Christmas in Mexicantown

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

mexicantown_safari-12_01_07 (160)_edit1

mexicantown_safari-12_01_07 (160)_edit1, photo by Ross Sandelius.

Ross is one of the many great photographers in the Exposure.Detroit group on Flickr. Their latest “photo safari” was to Detroit’s Mexicantown last Saturday. You can check out Ross’s Mexicantown Photo Safari Set (slideshow) and be very sure to spend some time with the group’s awesome slideshow from the outing.

Mexicantown is located in Southwest Detroit near Porter and Bagley, just north of the Ambassador Bridge. Model D’s guide to visiting Mexicantown details the restaurants and shops in the area and begins:

Mexicantown is a place where vibrantly colored buildings, decorated with even brighter murals and hand-painted signs, dot the main thoroughfares of Bagley and Vernor Streets. One might guess there are more restaurants per square foot than any other neighborhood in Detroit — but the smell of fresh tortillas and baked goods floating down the street provide the only proof. On any given day, the sounds of salsa or merenge come from Discoteca La Rancherita, and in the summer, people sit outside at restaurants—like the side patio at Los Galanes, where dangling plastic chili peppers and a live musician set a festive mood—sipping the best margaritas the city has to offer.

The Mexicantown Development Authority history page says that the neighborhood began with the first Mexican church in the 1920s.

The Heidelberg Project in Detroit

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

More from the Heidelberg Project

More from the Heidelberg Project, photo by DetroitDerek.

I have been planning to write something about The Heidelberg Project in Detroit for quite a while now. This morning, I read an unsettling report about fires at the project from Derek that tipped my hand.

At heidelberg.org you can learn all about this amazing project:

The Heidelberg Project, bearing the name of the street on which it exists, was started in 1986 by Tyree Guyton. He was assisted by his grandfather, Sam (Grandpa) Mackey (deceased), and his former wife, Karen Guyton. Tyree was raised on Heidelberg Street and, at the age of 12, witnessed the tragic effect of the Detroit riots – from which he claims the City of Detroit never recovered. Though once racially integrated, many neighborhoods have become segregated urban ghettos characterized by poverty, abandonment, and despair

Armed with a paintbrush, a broom, and neighborhood children, Guyton, Karen, and Grandpa began by cleaning up vacant lots on Heidelberg and Elba Streets. From the refuse they collected, Guyton began to transform the street into a massive art environment. Vacant lots literally became “lots of art” and abandoned houses became “gigantic art sculptures.” Guyton not only transformed vacant houses and lots, he integrated the street, sidewalks, and trees into his mammoth installation and called his work on Heidelberg Street, the Heidelberg Project.

I don’t think there’s any way that you can get a sense of this from one photo. Fortunately Derek has more photos from the Project (slideshow) and you can see a whole lot more photos of the Heidelberg Project on Flickr including those in the Heidelberg Project pool.

Be sure to also check out the video of Tyree Guyton explaining the Heidelberg Project and the new book from Wayne State University Press, Connecting the Dots: Tyree Guyton’s Heidelberg Project.

Fist of a Champion – Detroit’s Monument to Joe Louis

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Joe Louis 2

Joe Louis 2, photo by buckshot.jones.

Scott writes I simply love this piece of art work. It says so much about the heart and soul, the toughness, about the town and the people who live here and have built this area. Joe Louis Barrow, aka “The Brown Bomber” is one of the all-time great boxers. The 24 x 24 x 11.5 feet Monument to Joe Louis was commissioned by Time Inc. for the City of Detroit to honor Joe Louis. It was created by sculptor Robert Graham and installed at Jefferson Avenue at Woodward, Detroit on October 16, 1986.

Robert Graham’s page on the Joe Louis Memorial says:

The monument is a 24-foot long arm and fist held in balanced suspension from a pyramidal support of bronze poles. Weighing approximately 8,000 lb., it rises 24 feet above a major downtown intersection.

The initial arm was modeled in clay at 14 inches in length. With the aid of a computer, a full-scale steel armature, 24 feet in length, was made and wrapped with wire and covered with clay. The final clay model was divided into eight sections and cast in bronze, then assembled. The pyramid structure was fabricated out of steel, and faced with bronze plates. A tribute to Joe Louis is inscribed on the arm.

Detroit Yes writes in Downtown Montage that he may be the only person in Detroit (other than Scott) who likes the Fist:

So great was Joe Louis that is difficult to measure the historical contribution of this immense figure who, without a close second, is by far the greatest sports figure to ever arise from Detroit and assume center stage on the world theater. It was he who helped shatter the Nazi myth of racial superiority with his dramatic defeat of German champion Max Schmeling during the rise of Nazism. In doing so and then serving his country nobly in the segregated army of World War II, he laid bare the disgraceful hypocrisy that denied Afro American athletes access to the major leagues of American sport, not to mention all Afro Americans who were and are denied the basic birthrights of American citizenship.

He did this with his fists and determination. So it is fitting that he is honored with a place at the center of his hometown with an artwork as powerful and controversial as he was.

You can get a birds eye view of the Joe Louis Memorial on the Absolute Michigan map of Michigan. Also see Monuments of Detroit from the Detroit News, a slideshow of photos of the Fist and a video look at the Joe Louis Fist Statue. For more about Joe Louis, Wikipedia’s Joe Louis entry and the Official site of the Joe Louis Estate.

Wyandotte shipbuilding, the Fitzgerald brothers and the launch of the Little Fitz

Posted on by farlane

Launch of the W.E. Fitzgerald at Wyandotte

Launch of the S.S. W.E. Fitzgerald at Wyandotte, Detroit Publishing Co.

I have no idea how I ended up at this photo (and why I suddenly feel like Paul Harvey), but here’s what I’ve learned through Boatnerd.com and a forum with a brief article from Boatnerd by Dick Wiklund about the “Little Fitz.”

William and Julia Fitzgerald of Marine City, Michigan sired six sons. The sons were fascinated by the wooden sailing ships and early steamboats on the St. Clair River, and all six became captains of Great Lakes ships. The youngest of these was John Fitzgerald, who started a shipyard in Milwaukee. His son, William E. Fitzgerald, took over the business in the 1890s but died just a few years later. William’s close friend, Captain Dennis Sullivan, built and christened the W.E. Fitzgerald in Wyandotte in his honor in 1906.

The Wyandotte Historical Museum’s history page says that Wyandotte’s shipbuilding industry was started by Eber B. Ward:

Wyandotte produced over 200 ships, varying from small tugs to large steamers and passenger ferries. Under the name of the American Shipbuilding Company the Wyandotte yards flourished. Hulls were constructed in Wyandotte and were taken up the Detroit River to Detroit, Michigan were they were outfitted. Smaller companies such as the E.H.Doyle Hoop & Stave Works(1889)who provided the city’s first electric power, the Regeant Stove Company, the McCord Corp. and the Beals & Selkirk Trunk Company soon made Wyandotte a famous industrial town.

In 1953, the WE Fitzgerald became known as the Little Fitz when the massive freighter named after William’s son was launched. His name, of course, was Edmund Fitzgerald.

The Library of Congress index of Wyandotte photos is heavy ships & shipyards (you may need to go to this page and search for “Wyandotte”). If you’re in the mood for a ton of Great Lakes freighter information (and a little music and “Laker” cooking), head over to Absolute Michigan’s word of the week: Freighter.

A foggy morning over Detroit

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Foggy morning by MiSkyPig

Foggy morning, photo by MiSkyPig

Here’s a unique view of the city of Detroit, the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair on a misty September morning from (more or less) above Fort Wayne. Here’s a Google Map to help you orient.

Bob has several more aerial photos you might want to check out.

The Ultimate Sacrifice

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

The Ultimate Sacrifice - Black and White

The Ultimate Sacrifice – Black and White, photo by DarrinW.

Darrin took this photo at Veterans Cemetery in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I think it’s a good idea for everyone to take a pause in their activity this weekend to consider the profound sacrifices that so many have made on the behalf of our nation … and also that there are people today making those same sacrifices.

Of the nearly 4000 US Iraq War casualties listed at icasualties.org are 145 Michigan residents from Alpena to Ypsilanti and points in between. Take a moment to read the names listed under Michigan on this page.

I am reminded of a brief comment by former Governor William Milliken in this 2006 WKAR interview where he briefly touched on the war in Iraq, saying he was gravely concerned that Americans are not called upon to sacrifice personally in this war as we have been in past conflicts. Food for thought.

Speaking of WKAR, they are have a pretty cool Michigan Voices from World War II program airing at 7 PM Sunday night (Nov 11). Their web site includes stories shared by veterans – here’s a couple from Michigan WW II veterans and you can add your own story. There’s also a link to The War by Ken Burns on PBS that includes a number of online segments.

The Freep has a number of Detroit area Veteran’s Day observances and we received details on the Detroit Veteran’s Day March held today (Saturday, Nov 10) at noon from Grand Circus Park to Campus Martius. I suppose your local paper has more because there doesn’t seem to be a statewide listing to be found.

You might also appreciate the Michigan Soldiers & Sailors Monument on Michigan in Pictures, photos for “veteran” in the Absolute Michigan pool on Flickr (slideshow), and many of the items at Absolute Michigan keyword veteran including Michigan Veterans and Veterans Day from last year.

metropolis

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Metropolis

metropolis, photo by SOUTHEN.

Ryan writes:

This is the Renaissance Center in Detroit. The views of this place across Jefferson Avenue often have a futuristic look to them, especially at night. I like the streaks of the cars in the foreground with the streak of the people mover from above on the track.

You can metropolis on black and see other photos from his Nights in DETROIT set (slideshow). He has photos for sale through his Ryan Southen Photography web site.

“Detroit” and “Night” reminds me that there’s something to do with Detroit photography tonight.