Bobby and others have had the unfortunate loss of a friend. We’ll be doing Bobby’s profile next Monday – Wednesday (Feb 26-28) and our condolences go out to all the friends and family of Jeffrey Colby.
Distorted Reality
Distorted Reality, photo by A Dubs
Compuware Building, Campus Martius, Detroit, MI. Alan has a blog called Faded Detroit where he turns his eye (and his camera) upon decay and rebirth in the city of Detroit.
skyed
After a too-long hiatus, we will finally be profiling another Michigan photographer: Bobby Alcott aka “UrbanTiki”, a Detroit photographer. We’ll be asking Bobby some questions next week (Monday through Wednesday) and we’d also like to ask you to give us some questions. Just post a comment below or e-mail your question to us.
You can see more work by Bobby at his Flickr page and also at Bobby Alcott Photography. Check out our past profiles of Matt Callow and Marjorie O’Brien on the Michigan Photographers profile page.
UPDATE: Too-long sadly became just a little bit longer as Bobby and others have had the unfortunate loss of a friend. We’ll be doing Bobby’s profile next Monday – Wednesday (Feb 26-28) and our condolences go out to all the friends and family of Jeffrey Colby.
I-96 Overpass, Southfield Freeway, Michigan
I-96 Overpass, Southfield Freeway, Michigan, photo by buckeye616.
I guess if you only have the eyes to see it, anything can be beautiful.
Diego Rivera With Patrons
Diego Rivera With Patrons, photo by anikarenina.
anikarenina asks Is your cultural institution incendiary?
I assume that’s a reference to the incendiary art of Diego Rivera. The Detroit Institute of Arts is home to one of the most famous collection of Diego Rivera murals. The Diego Rivera Web Museum writes that:
Diego Rivera’s legacy to modern mexican art was decisive in murals and canvas; he was a revolutionary painter looking to take art to the big public, to streets and buildings, managing a precise, direct, and realist style, full of social content.
The Novi Special Water Tower
2006.06.11 – Water Tower – Novi – 004, photo by ercy.
This is just one of the photos in the Michigan Water Towers group on Flickr. It might seem a little silly to have a collection of water towers, but (in Ercy’s apt phrasing) water towers are reminders of paths we’ve taken.
Since Wikipedia pretty much has the theory and history of water towers covered, here’s a bit on the Novi Special. Novi is a suburb located to the northwest of Detroit and according to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America of Novi, it’s also the place where:
Ed & Bud Winfield designed and built a 181 cubic inch supercharged V-8 engine in 1938. It was arguably the most advanced piston engine in the world. It was this engine that became the famous Novi V-8 and powered a series of Novi Specials at Indianapolis from the 1940’s through the 1960’s. Even after the last Novi Special raced in 1965, the name has been associated with speed and power.
Click the Novi Special below for more details from the Motorsports Hall of Fame. If you click the car when you get there, you can see a nice photo of the last Novi Special ever made. (if you visit the Hall, you can see the actual car!)
Looking Back on Detroit’s Super Bowl
Winterblast, photo by Allan M.
Allan’s photo of the brightly lit Detroit Winter Blast festivities was the most popular photo for “Super Bowl XL” on Flickr.
I’m wondering one year later, how you think the Super Bowl impacted the city of Detroit. I asked someone the other day what they recall and (to my less than surprise) they took home “Jerome Bettis is from Detroit“. Did it make a difference for the city of Detroit and Michigan? Post your thoughts in the comments!
You can get a bunch more photos from the 2006 Super Bowl on Michigan in Pictures and read a locker room full of Super Bowl XL articles at Absolute Michigan.
Lawndale Market: Detroit’s Polaroid Paradise
One of my goals with Michigan in Pictures this year is to bring in more photos and photographers from all over Michigan and I can’t think of a better place to start than at Lawndale Market. Ryan Keberly writes:
Every inch of the Lawndale Market was covered in Polaroid photos — the bottle return, deli counter, ceiling, refrigerators and cigarette racks.
Each Polaroid (approximately 10,000 total) was preciously customized in ball-point pen with the date, subject’s name and the title “Gold Loves Me.”
You can see more photos at Lawndale Market on Ryan’s site, read an article about Lawndale Market from Metro Times Detroit or use this map to Lawndale Market from the Google to drive there.
Ryan Keberly is a freelance photographer and web designer who has put together some great sites including Snowsuit.net (on permanent hiatus but still amazing) and Spouse Notes (postings of notes from one loved one to another). Find a bunch more sites and photo collections at Ryan Keberly Photography.
Like all photos on Michigan in Pictures, this photo is copyrighted to the photographer. As Ryan’s site so simply reminds us: “Don’t steal. Ever.”
A visit to Cranbrook House and Gardens
Untitled, photo by Rhonda_Marie.
Last weekend, the Exposure.Detroit group on Flickr held a photography meetup at Cranbrook. Here is a link to many more great photos taken at Cranbrook.
Cranbrook House and Gardens in Bloomfield Hills is the heart of the over 300-acre National Historic Landmark Cranbrook campus. The English Arts and Crafts-style Cranbrook House was designed by Detroit architect Albert Kahn in 1908 for Detroit News publisher George Gough Booth and Ellen Scripps Booth. The home is the oldest surviving manor in the metro Detroit area. According to the Cranbrook House and Gardens site:
The Booths commissioned the finest artisans, craftsmen and studios of the period to furnish the house with handcrafted furniture, tapestries, tiles, stained and leaded glass, and other works of fine and decorative art.
The 40 acres of gardens that surround Cranbrook House were originally designed by George Booth to entice visitors to savor the serenity of the spring and summer months. From the symmetry of the Sunken Garden to the scent of the herbaceous garden to the casual beauty of the bog garden, there is something to capture everyone’s interest. Sculpture, fountains and architectural fragments enhance the setting with spacious lawns, specimen trees, and a lake stretching out beyond the fieldstone walls.
Also see Cranbrook’s History in the Cranbrook Archives and How one man’s bad luck paved way for creation of Cranbrook from the Detroit News Rearview Mirror. Also see this map of the Cranbrook area with geotagged photos.
Ford Airstream
Ford Airstream, photo by Spencer Olinek.
Spencer calls this a wonderfully crazy concept from Ford and Airstream. As a former Airstream owner, I have to agree!
You can get many more photos of the Ford Airstream Concept on Flick and also in this Ford Airstream photo gallery at Airstream.com. If this wacky ride isn’t your style, you’ll probably find something to your liking in the 2007 North American International Auto Show pool.
Also, as a part of our auto show coverage, we have posted our latest Michigan Automotive History feature on the Ford Motor Company.
Michigan in Pictures 