I was recently contracted by the Michigan Writers nonprofit organization to build a new website that will help them them bring their mission of building community for writers. The geek in me is excited about how the new site allows the organization and members to post events, announcements & opportunities that help them grow the craft of writing, while the lover of Michigan in me is amazed at how the simple inclusion of this photo by longtime Michigan in Pictures contributor Dennis Sparks perfectly transformed the look & feel of the website. In this age where AI images are supplanting actual photography, I think it’s a good thing to remember that authenticity whether in images or words or actions never loses its value.
Dennis took this photo back in September of 2022. You can see more in his Water gallery including this great photo from the beach at Ludington State Park and follow him on Flickr for his latest!!
The whole idea behind Michigan in Pictures is to share to work of other photographers to help people see the state that I love from every angle, but on my birthday I like to share my own photos.
Since today is my birthday, I’m going to take the time to introduce you to something near & dear to my heart, the Lincoln Street Art Park in Detroit & Make Art Work, the nonprofit that seeks to preserve & enhance this incredible place. Instead of listing all the ways tmy spirit has been fed & connected by this wildly unique blend of art & community, I’ll let Maryam Moss of the Oakland Post explain how Lincoln Street Art Park has turned trash to treasure:
Lincoln St. Art Park, on 5929 Lincoln St. near the Northwest Goldberg neighborhood in Detroit, was opened to the public in 2011 by Matthew Naimi, also founder of Recycle Here!, a recycling center adjacent to the park.
The vision for the park was born out of a community cleanup effort to transform an industrial lot, once the site of an auto plant managed by Warren Motor Car Co., and, later, Ford Motor Co. The center, described by Naimi as “Detroit’s destination for recycling for 15 years,” encourages a public participation in patronizing and creating sustainable art, after the “take something, leave another behind” ideology of the Little Free Libraries found across U.S. communities.
…The park features mounted mural art, graffitied sections of brick and sculpture installations as part of an outdoor walk-through gallery where bright swaths of paint contrast against the rugged brick interior and uneven lawn.
Michigan in Pictures is hosted at WordPress.com. They are beginning to phase out posts written in their old format, so I am going to be re-sharing some so they don’t disappear forever. I always loved this photo that I shared 17 years ago today in 2009. I love the building too, and although it was one of many abandoned skyscrapers in downtown Detroit, it (like much of downtown) has returned to its former glory as one of the city’s most stunning buildings.
She’s one of a kind. Some might even say beautiful in its ugliness. But regardless how you feel about its exterior, no one can deny that a seven-year, $300 million renovation has polished the Book Tower and Book Building into an absolute gem in the city’s skyline.
No skyscraper in Detroit, let alone the Midwest, looks quite like the Book Tower on Washington Boulevard. It’s a rather awkward-looking building, whether you look at its unusual maze of an external fire escape or the intricate, over-the-top details on its crown that are tough to appreciate without a pair of binoculars. It’s an undeniably unique piece of the city’s skyline and a rare breed of classical Renaissance-style architecture and skyscraper. As an added bonus, joined at its hip is one of the city’s oldest surviving office buildings.
…Starting in 1916, J. Burgess Book Jr. and his brothers embarked on trying to turn the rundown and ragged Washington Boulevard into an upscale and fashionable destination, similar to Fifth Avenue in New York. The first major building they had constructed was the Book Building, a rather simple 13-story Italian Renaissance office building that opened in 1917. The stately stone-faced structure, like most of the buildings on the boulevard, was designed by Louis Kamper, the Books’ architect of choice. While the Book brothers were the men behind Washington Boulevard, Kamper was the man who would build it.
While distinguished, the Book Building was hardly the architectural conversation starter or hint of what was to come. It was Kamper’s first major commercial design. The ground floor spaces were for shops; the floors above were for office space. Along the Washington Boulevard side, the Book Building has 12 sculptures of nude women, known as caryatids, which seem to be holding up the building’s cornice. Back in the 1970s, the priests across the street at St. Aloysius Catholic Church used to call them the wives of the 12 Apostles. The building’s U-shaped design allowed for ample sunlight in more offices.
I created the Absolute Michigan photo group on Flickr way back in April of 2012. Since then, the group has grown to nearly 4,000 photographers and earlier this week, one of them added the three hundred thousandth photo was added to the group which I think is pretty darned cool!!
Speaking of the Absolute Michigan group, it’s a great place to check out photos of literally anything in Michigan with just a search. Here’s the most interesting pics shared of May in Michigan!
Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of Michigan in Pictures, and thankfully I realized that trying highlight the best of what is now 4,638 posts was a little crazy even for a dyed in wool webhead like me! Thank you all for being a part of this!! You can check out part one featuring 2005 through 2015. Now let’s get busy with the top pics for every year from 2016 through 2025!
Torch Lake is Michigan’s second largest inland lake & at 19 miles, our longest lake. In addition to being the top pic of 2017, Drew’s photo was featured in an excellent mLive profile of jaw dropping Michigan locations.
Pantheos put together an incredible list of 87 Michigan’s ‘skyscraper’ Coastal Dunes that he could verify at 100′ or more in height. He climbed a lot of them including the tallest: 526-foot Empire Bluff Dune in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
2020 was a tumultuous year in many ways, but one (actual) bright spot we could all enjoy was Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) that Shawn captured so well in this July photo.
Craig’s photo along with his information about how to see the CPKC Holiday Train when it passed through southeast Michigan was this year’s most popular photo. Even better, I know for a fact that his information along with updates shared by Montez Miller helped a ton of people see the train in 2025!
Twenty years ago this morning on December 30, 2005, I started Michigan in Pictures to share some of the great photos I was seeing on Flickr along with some of the Michigan stories & events we were putting out on Absolute Michigan*. By way of celebration, here are some highlights from the first decade with the second to follow tomorrow!
2006: Michigan Photographer Profiles
The top two posts of 2006 were also my favorite: the Michigan Photographer Profiles of Ann Arbor Huron High senior Marjorie O’Brien and Matt Callow, a British born and bred photographer with a penchant for pinhole photography & unique cameras. I had so much fun exploring the motivations and techniques of some of my favorite photographers that I am honestly wondering why I stopped 🤔
The most popular post of 2013 is also the most popular of all time: Know Your Michigan Turtles. It’s also the hub for information about Michigan’s 10 native turtle species so check it out!
2014 & 2015: Ice Cave Obsession
In the same way that I thought it was fascinatingly cool to have bridge photos as 4 of the 6 top photos in my 2025 Michigan in Pictures Year in Review, I think it’s pretty darn nifty that the top photos of 2014 & 2015 both reflected the hold that ice caves had on Michigan winter discourse. Check out Ken’s Ice Caves of Leelanau and Heather’s Ice Caves Return to Lake Michigan, and I will see you tomorrow!!
* Absolute Michigan was my Michigan supersite that was put out of business by the $10-30+ million per year behemoth that was Pure Michigan. Here’s a look courtesy the Wayback Machine of absolutemichigan.com in its prime.
It’s time for the annual roundup of the most popular photos of the year on Michigan in Pictures. Instead of the usual top 5, I’m doing a top six because baby cougars. Thanks everyone for being a fan!
Also, I am going to go ahead and declare 2025 the Year of the Bridge because 4 out of the top 5 were bridge photos. I will also be wondering what that says about me … and all of you!! ;)
The most popular post of 2025 with well over half a million views was this post of Craig’s photo with information about how to see the beloved the CPKC Holiday Train as it passed through Southeast Michigan. The train has collected over 5 million pounds of food and raised more than $26 million dollars for community food banks in Canada and the US, and – thanks in large part to Detroit photographer Montez Miller – our post and the one on Facebook with updates became important resources for folks to see to the train!
The second most popular photo of the year was from the Gordie Howe International Bridge who reported that the Canadian & US flags have found their permanent home at center of the bridge deck, adding “Soon you’ll be able to see the flags for yourself from the multi-use path as you walk or bike across the bridge.” Just missing the Top 5 was another pic of the bridge in a post about the fact you’ll be able to bike to Canada across the bridge!
We don’t have to go far at all for the third most popular photo which is Ryan’s excellent drone shot of a freighter making its way up the Detroit River under the Gordie Howe along with the news that the planned 2025 opening of the Bridge might be delayed, which it was! Ryan shared that this is one of his favorite shots of the new bridge. Click the pic to follow him on Facebook & head over to J&C Photography to view & purchase his work and to hire him for photographic services including drone photography & 360 degree panoramas.
On June 4th the Mackinac Bridge Cam shared this photo writing, “Unfortunately, what you’re seeing today is not fog surrounding the Mackinac Bridge but smoke coming from the wildfires and our neighbors to the North.” Head over to the Mackinac Bridge Cam if you’d like to take a look at how things are today. (spoiler alert: so windy & snowy that you can barely see anything!!)
In May we met Big Penny, Lansing’s twelve foot titan of truck termination that was completed in 1928 with the apparent purpose of destroying as many trucks as possible. There’s lots more Big Penny news this year including the 100th truck munched! Follow Stupid Lansing for updates!
Rounding out the top photos of 2025 was a report from the DNR that 2025 was a banner year for Michigan cougars! In addition to being the 3rd straight year of record numbers of cougar sightings, the fact that a pair of cougar cubs was spotted at the same time March 6 in Ontonagon County confirms we have breeding populations here in Michigan.
9 years ago I started a Michigan in Pictures Patreon page to allow folks to throw me a few bucks in support of michpics. A big thank you to all who have done so – it means a lot to know you care.
My best friend Ken who has since passed on & I took these photos way back in August of 2007 after an honestly incredible rock stacking event on the Lake Michigan shoreline just north of the village of Frankfort. I still have no idea who did this, but I know that I will never forget it!! I hope you enjoy these photos & the video and also that you’re able to make or discover magic in your corner of the Great Lakes State.
Every year I like to look back on the most popular photos from the previous year of Michigan in Pictures, and this year is no exception. Joey’s incredible drone shot of workers laying the last girder in place to connect the deck of the new Gordie Howe International Bridge to the Detroit Port of Entry was not only the most popular post in 2024 — with 2.9 MILLION views it also became the most popular post ever on Michigan in Pictures! This astonishing project has been directed and paid for by Canada & opens in November of 2025! Learn more about the Gordie Howe Bridge on Michigan in Pictures & for sure follow Joey on Instagram and view & purchase photos on his website!
Checking in at number two is this peach of a photo of Turnip Rock near Port Austin in Michigan’s Thumb. Tom shared that this gigantic stone developed its signature look after millennium of being worn away by waves thumping across its bow to the point where it’s just an island inhabited by some trees and very little else. Head over to Tom’s website to view & purchase his work!
This shot from Flint by Morgan Andrew Somers of a plane flying into the eclipse was the 3rd most popular pic of 2024. It is also one of the coolest eclipse photos & photos in general I’ve ever seen!
The 4th most popular post was a pair of pics showing the freighter Herbert C Jackson passing under the bridge with Mike Rezabek’s photo of the walk below from the deck of the Jackson completing the 360 view!
The most popular post from previous years was the 2014 feature on the Eastern Hog-nosed Snake (Heterodon platirhinos). The “puff adder” is one of only 17 species of snake in Michigan and like all but one of the, it’s harmless to humans.
FYI, the only poisonous snake native to Michigan is the Eastern massasauga rattlesnake which has the weakest venom of any rattler.
I promised a look at what’s in store for 2025, so here are five goals I think I can achieve in the coming year:
Visiting or revisiting places I’ve talked about on Michigan in Pictures, either in person or real life. One of the biggest reasons I created Michigan in Pictures was to provide a window into the many cool experiences available in the Great Lakes State. Back in the day when I started, I was able able to get out and about to all corners of the state, but these days I just don’t have the same time to do that. I’m hoping that in addition to pushing myself to do more, I can find some photographers exploring them.
Highlighting more photos from our Michigan in Pictures group on Facebook and creating addition virtual & maybe even real world opportunities to share photos. There used to be some very fun Exposure.Detroit shows & meetups back in the day, and I was even able to lead a field trip to the Grand Traverse Commons with the group. These days I work & know folks at some cool spots here in Detroit that would be fun to explore, and there are a lot of photographers featured here that have deep roots in all corners of Michigan. Social media is cool & all, but for my money, the real world is where things are going to be at in the years to come.
Reaching out to some of the amazing Michigan photographers I’ve profiled over the years to see what they’re up to now & what they’re thinking about photography. And of course to do profiles on some of the great new photographers I’m sharing. I didn’t do a whole lot of Michigan Photographer Profiles, but the ones I did were absolutely fascinating to me both as a photographer and as a lover of Michigan.
Find more Michigan companies & photography companies to donate swag to give away. When we were running Absolute Michigan at full steam, we used to get a lot of free promotional items like concert tickets, museum passes, free lodging stays, outdoor & other gear, and lots more.
I started Michigan in Pictures way back on December 30, 2025. In the 19 years since, I’ve shared 2840 posts – well, 2841 now – to 1.6 million people! Thank you all for being a part of it!!
I took this photo & the one below at the Manitou Music Festival at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore way back in 2005! You can see a lot more in my Music Makes Me Smile gallery on Flickr, and the dancing fellow in the bottom picture is Jacob Wheeler, editor & publisher of the fantastic Glen Arbor Sun!
