100,000 photos in the Absolute Michigan Pool

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures
Can You See Me Now...?(.142/365) by Sydney Marie Photography

Can You See Me Now…?(.142/365) by Sydney Marie Photography

Sometime over the weekend, the 100,000th photo was added to the Absolute Michigan pool on Flickr.

One hundred thousand.

What an amazing gift you nearly 2400 photographers have shared with Absolute Michigan and Michigan in Pictures over the last four and a half years. Whether it’s dandelions or Detroit Lions, hill sides or mud slides, if it’s Michigan, chances are there’s a photo of it in the Absolute Michigan photo group!

Check this out bigger and in Sydney’s 365 slideshow.

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Exposure.Detroit May Exhibit Opening ~ May 15th

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

urban velvet

urban velvet, photo by Jon DeBoer.

Exposure.Detroit May Show - Poster by Jon DeBoer The May Exposure.Detroit exhibit opening party takes place on Saturday, Saturday, May 15th from 7-10 PM at the Bean & Leaf Cafe in Royal Oak and features the work of these 5 talented photographers:

You can see this photo bigger in John’s My Best slideshow and who knows, maybe up close and personal will be on the wall on Saturday!

Cool Blue: Michigan Lighthouse Ice

Posted on by farlane

Cool Blue
Cool Blue, photo by Brian.H

Wind, waves and winter work create some amazing ice formations on Michigan lighthouses. To see some of them. click over to the Lighthouse Ice show from the Absolute Michigan pool!

See this photo of the St. Joseph light bigger or in Brian’s Lighthouse set (slideshow).

WPA Art in Michigan: Blissfield Post Office

Posted on by farlane

Blissfield, Michigan Post Office, photo © Dirk Bakker

The latest feature from the Michigan Radio Picture Project is WPA Art in Michigan, featuring the photography of Dirk Bakker, who photographed over over fifty Michigan WPA projects for a book from Wayne State University Press (that was actually never published):

Among the bold experimental programs that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt enlisted to aid the profoundly depressed U.S. economy of the early 1930s were “public works” programs to aggressively move people back to work. There was the Civilian Conservation Corp that put young unemployed men to work planting trees to reforest America. The Civilian Works Administration put people to work building or rebuilding the infrastructure of the country by teaching, or by building roads, bridges and dams.

George Biddel, a classmate of Roosevelt’s from Harvard and an artist himself, suggested that FDR follow Mexico’s lead and employ artists to paint murals on government buildings. Roosevelt was convinced and in 1933 founded the “Public Works of Art Project,” funded by the Civilian Works Administration. It was succeeded by numerous other federally aided projects that, in addition to the visual arts, funded theater, music and writing projects.

One of the most productive as well as controversial programs was the Treasury Section of Fine Arts, which selected artists by jury and commissioned them to paint murals in U.S. Post Offices. The State of Michigan was the beneficiary of more than fifty Section post office “murals,” as well as numerous other institutional painting and sculpture commissions.

The Michigan Radio Picture Project is a new site from Michigan Radio that aims to be a forum for photographs that address Michigan people, places, events, and issues. They hope to develop a broad mixture of photo essays to expand on stories from Michigan Radio and to go deeper into Michigan historical photographs, fine art photography and pictures from various archives and collections. Have an idea? Pitch their website coordinators Eric Smith, Doug Aikenhead, and Tamar Charney at michiganradiopictureproject@umich.edu.

You can also check out a cool WPA-themed poster contest over on Absolute Michigan!

The Cutting Room Floor

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

God and Automobiles

God and Automobiles, photo by g. s. george.

Yesterday on Absolute Michigan we featured Generation Y Michigan, a project of Michigan Radio that is probing why young adults leave Michigan (or buck the trend and choose to stay). While poking around, I found an engaging feature by Colleen Hill of Pixelgawker that features the photography of Geoff George (a regular on Michigan in Pictures). It’s titled Editors and Image Makers: On Photographing Detroit, Part 1 and begins:

One of the most important jobs in the media, that of the editor, often goes unseen. A well-edited film is seamless in its delivery. There are no awkward cuts or pauses, and the plot transcends time and distance effortlessly. Recently Detroit has been a prime topic of interest both in the national media and in film. With the copious number of photographs and footage of the city circulating the Internet and television, I can’t help but wonder, what is the edited version of Detroit that resides in the minds of the most of Americans? What are the parts left behind on the cutting room floor?

Read on for a lot more! About the photo above, Geoff writes:

This is the memorable and ironic view that greets every motorist traveling south on I-75 towards downtown. Thousands of these motorists are surely suburban GM workers on their way to work every day, and the irony of this chance alignment is hopefully not lost on them. In the background, the Renaissance Center, Detroit’s tallest building and GM World Headquarters. In the foreground, St. Josaphat, a 105-year old still-functioning relic from Detroit’s heyday. Detroit is the Motor City, but the sins committed here cannot be forgotten or forgiven–from the hundreds of murders every year to the construction of a freeway system that divided and destroyed vibrant and working neighborhoods. Hopefully this image will one day have different associations.

For me, it is a powerful view that is quintessentially Detroit. I’m sure it’s been photographed hundreds of times, but the balance and contrast between Detroit’s largest and most infamous glass skyscraper, a struggling community church, and the freeway that cut a swath across the city and acted as a runway for white flighters provides me with endless fascination. I hope you will find it equally stimulating.

You can see a whole lot more in Geoff’s the city on the strait: detroit set (slideshow).

2000 is a big number

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Dock o' boats

Dock o’ boats, photo by &Sam.

Over on Absolute Michigan I noted that the 2000th photographer joined our Absolute Michigan pool on Flickr. It’s where almost all of the photos on Michigan in Pictures come from and really an amazing resource that we are so fortunate to have at our disposal.

Be sure to check this photo out bigger and in Sam’s Outside set (slideshow).

Your photo contest begins at Michigan.org

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Holland, Michigan Lighthouse

Holland, Michigan Lighthouse, photo by Tony Tanoury.

The Pure Michigan Photo Contest is open until June 29, 2009 and offers you a chance to win prizes including a stay at the Gran Hotel on Mackinac Island!

You can get all the details at the link above and check out submitted photos on their map.

Tony took this photo of the “Big Red” lighthouse in Holland last May. Be sure to check it out bigger and also in his Michigan set (slideshow).

Exposure Detroit May 2009 Show

Posted on by farlane

Hallway on a Tilt
Hallway on a Tilt, photo by Cherie S.

The photography group Exposure.Detroit will hold the opening for their May 2009 show tomorrow night (Friday, May 8th) from 7-10 PM at the Bean & Leaf Cafe in Royal Oak.

In addition to Cherie Stangis, the show features work from Mark Orlowski, Patrick Simpson, Alanna St. Laurent and Christian Spencer.

Check out a bunch more cool B&W shots in Cherie’s Inanimate in Black and White set (slideshow).

Garage Sale Culture: I’m one of those Americans

Posted on by farlane

david-mcgowan-garage-sale-culture

I’m one of those Americans, photo by David McGowan

David says that in the summer of 2008, he started shooting an essay on the culture of garage sales in Michigan as we moved deeper into recession.

Now his essay is one the fantastic photography site Burn. Burn is curated by notable Magnum and National Geographic photographer, David Alan Harvey, and was established to be a platform for emerging photographers online and in print. Do yourself a favor and check out David McGowan – Garage Sale.

I’m serious – do not miss this one.

I have to also say thanks to David for introducing me to Lux Land,  Michigan songstress and wife of Brian Vander Ark who I had heard of but never really heard. Her song, Touching a Legend is the soundtrack and you can can check her music out at Luxy Land or MySpace.

Above Michigan … and the Au Sable River

Posted on by farlane

Au Sable River by Marge Beaver

Au Sable River, photo by Marge Beaver

Today’s photo comes from my coffee table … or more precisely a book that’s on my coffee table. The book is Above the North and it features the photography of Michigan aerial photographer Marge Beaver. abovethenorth1From the inside cover:

“These stunning bird’s-eye views offer rare and beautiful glimpses of northern Michigan’s unique terrain from the lofty perch of photographer Marge Beaver’s camera lens. Beaver’s breathtaking four-season photographs transform our view of Michigan into a magical land. From the Sleeping Bear Dune in winter with its vertiginous sandy edifice, to a Coast Guard cutter shattering the icy Straits, to the ghostly silhouette of a sunken ship and the brilliant turquoise waters of Crystal, Torch, Elk, Charlevoix, and Glen lakes, these are images of Michigan as you’ve never seen her before. All of these, plus arresting photographs of orchards in snowy-white bloom, winding rivers, and city harbors make this book a collector’s item for anyone who loves Michigan.”

Marge’s web site has great aerial shots from Alpena to White Lake and points in between. Check out her aerials of marinas & harbors, lighthouses, Detroit and many more locations in and out of Michigan. You can check out a cool interview with Marge right here.