Detroit in Ruins

"Saving Detroit one image at a time" was printed in my local paper today.

2010-04-29T10:48:00.000-07:00

I very nice article about this project was printed in the Hersham Acorn papers today. my understanding is that the article will be seen in ten towns in my area. I am hoping that the exposure will help to inspire backers as the funding drive on Kickstarter is not
going as well as hoped. I have several interviews lined up with Detroit area artists and community leaders and I am hoping to get out there in the next few weeks. As soon as the article is available online I will post a link.

Link to my Kickstarter page

2010-04-21T07:16:00.001-07:00

Please visit my Kickstarter.com project page to lend your support to "Detroit in Ruins".
Prints can be purchased at my Smugmug page and all proceeds will go toward the funding of the documentary.
See the link on the sidebar.

KIckstarter Project Page: CLICK HERE

I was offered a RED package today for use on the doc. when I am in Detroit

2010-04-19T15:35:00.000-07:00

I received a very generous offer from a local rental house today that is willing to lend me a RED package and send me out with a DIT the next time I am in Detroit shooting. I considered the offer but ultimately decided that the RED was just to cumbersome and far to expensive looking to be running around the slums of Detroit with. I thanked them profusely and assured them that I am still a big fan of the RED but that this particular project calls for as small a footprint as possible while shooting. Me, an assistant and a DSLR are the perfect tools for this job. All I really am in need of are a few faster lenses. I'd love to get my hands on an L series prime or two. I actually emailed a representative at Canon today to see if I could barter a deal for credit on the doc. I'll keep you all posted as this develops.

Today I was interviewed by a local paper about the Documentary

2010-04-17T14:41:00.000-07:00

So its no secret that the fund raising effort on Kickstarter.com isn't moving as quickly or as well as I had hoped. I am very appreciative to those who have made pledges, but at this rate I will not meet my goal. In leu of that I reached out to the local paper affiliate and they kindly agreed to have an article written about the project. I met with the reporter this morning. Hopefully the article will be published before the kickstarter project has ended, but in either case any press is good press and I have high hopes that the article will reap some benefits for the project. The reporter was a very nice woman who is from the Detroit area and had a genuine passion and understanding of the situation in Detroit. I will post the article when published.

Results of the 1D Mark lV tests I did in NYC

2010-04-11T20:05:00.000-07:00

Here is a file of some of the stuff I shot with the 1D Mark lV in NYC. I'm told Canon will be using some of it at their booth at NAB this week. Being that I won't be in Las Vegas I'll have to trust that they are representing my work in a good light.
here is the link: http://przypek.com/Time-lapse.html

Can't you just see clouds racing by, above the ruins of the Packard Plant, or Michigan Central Station, it really is the makings of some exciting photography. Lets hope I can pull the funding together to make it a reality.

28 days left on my Kickstarter project

2010-04-11T19:52:00.000-07:00

One day down and one backer gained. Not a bad first day but not great either. Realistically I need a little more than two backers a day at 100 apiece in order to reach my goal of 6000 dollars. The way Kickstarter works is that if you don't reach your goal you don't get any funds even if I raise 5999 dollars at the end of 29 days..... no funding.
There is still plenty of time. If anyone is out there listening; even a dollar helps. This is a story which needs to be told again and again until something is done about the irresponsible abandonment of an entire city. A bonafide disaster in our own backyard and nobody is screaming about it from the rooftops! 6000 dollars isn't much to produce a documentary, a photo exhibit and a book of fine art photos but it is a challenge I am willing to undertake. All I am asking of you is the pledge of a few dollars to help me help others. Plus there are some cool rewards to be had. Who wouldn't want a cool HDR print of an industrial ruin on par with the great ruins of of the world.

Today I applied for funding at kickstarter.com

2010-04-08T19:36:00.000-07:00

And so it begins. I just learned of a fantastic website called kickstarter.com. The sole purpose of kickstarter is to connect artists with investors. There is a reward policy that they use to help inspire investors. My plan is to offer signed prints in exchange for donations. I just applied today. I will post the progress of this endeavor here.

Documentary kit

2010-02-15T15:30:00.001-08:00

I got my hands on a Canon 1D MarklV today. Hopefully this will be the camera I will shoot the documentary with.
Here is a picture of my kit.

Thats my 7D, with the EF-S 10-22mm. The 1D MarklV is sporting the EF 85mm "L" series prime.

I'm heading intro NYC tonight to do some testing I'll post the results in the days to come.

One of my favorite photos from my Canon 20D

2010-02-14T12:22:00.000-08:00

Ok this doesn't have anything to do with Detroit or the Documentary I am making but it is one of my favorite photos that I took with my old Canon 20D. Recently I purchased a 7D, and plan on shooting a good part of the Doc. on the 7D, I just haven't had the chance to put it through its paces yet. So in reminiscence of all the great time-lapse footage and stills shot acomplished with the 20D I post this picture and hope the 7D will serve me as well.

Response from Detroit Artists.

2010-02-11T14:14:00.001-08:00

I have been getting a good amount of interest for this project from local artists and just general people with an opinion from Detroit and elsewhere. It will take me a little while to sort through them but as I do I will post some of the more interesting correspondence.

Water and Sewerage

2010-02-10T20:11:00.000-08:00

Notice the GM building looming in the background like an unreachable Land of Oz.

Outside the soup kitchen

2010-02-10T11:05:00.001-08:00

I took this photo in early November just a few blocks from the Motown Museum.

Michigan Avenue around Rosa Parks near the MCS

2010-02-09T21:47:00.000-08:00

PBS Series "Beyond The Motor City" Blueprint America

2010-02-09T20:17:00.000-08:00

PBS is running a series which uses Detroit as a framing structure to examine infrastructure issues in urban planning.
"Blueprint America harnesses the power of public broadcasting’s most prestigious programs, primetime documentaries, and the web to shine an unyielding spotlight on one of the most critical issues facing our country: America’s decaying and neglected infrastructure."

This video "The Power House" portrays an interesting grass roots approach akin to the homesteading that went on during the western expansion.

Here is a link to their blog: http://powerhouseproject.com/blog/

The plight of Detroit is pertinent and timely, and can be seen as a harbinger of things to come and a warning to future urban planners.

Church Interior

2010-02-09T19:30:00.001-08:00

Another fabulous abandoned building, this one used to be a church, everything had been stripped out of it, but the stone structure remains. It too is for sale. I neglected to get a price. I did actually stumble upon a crack den while getting this photo, but that is another story.

Detroit artists use city’s blight as a canvas By MIKE HOUSEHOLDER The Associated Press Sunday, December 20, 2009

2010-02-09T18:56:00.000-08:00

This is an HDR photo of one of the houses in the Heidleberg Project in Detroit.
I have several more photos of this multi block installation that I will post at a later date.
Link to Heidelberg website: http://www.heidelberg.org/

Recent attempt to auction off foreclosed or abandoned properties fails in Detroit.

2010-02-09T18:37:00.000-08:00

LINK: http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2009/10/detroit_house_auction_flops_as.html

Artists Buying Cheap Houses in Detroit

2010-02-09T12:15:00.000-08:00

This is an interesting bit of news. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/opinion/08barlow.html?_r=3

Agree or not this guy has a point.

2010-02-09T11:03:00.001-08:00

The plight of Detroit seems to be on many people's minds and keeps popping up in regard to a number of social and political issues. I find the mixture of response fascinating. http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2010/01/25/haiti-is-not-our-long-term-responsibility-detroit-is/

Fisher Plant

2010-02-08T21:00:00.000-08:00

People from Detroit have an amusing term for pictures outsiders take of the infamous ruins found in their city, they call it "Ruins Porn". I've tried to breath new life into this fledgling genre of architectural photography. Above is an HDR photo I took of the Fisher Plant. Perhaps its too "pretty" to truly convey the ominous nature of the ruin. I'd like to think it elevates the structure to a more fitting reminder of the majesty such pillars of industry once held.

Inside the MCS

2010-02-08T20:37:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of me standing inside of the MCS in Detroit. I stood in front of the camera so a sense of scale could be had. The building is enormous. I had to climb through a hole in a fence toward the back of the building and then make my way through a second floor window.

Ice House of Detroit

2010-02-08T18:41:00.000-08:00

Here is an interesting attempt to raise awareness of the situation in Detroit.
They even lit it up like a Gregory Crewdson photograph and took 8x10 photos.
I'll keep my eyes on this project.
I wish I could get out there now and interview these guys and take a few photos with my own brand of photography.
It seems there are a good many of us feeling the need to act on behalf of that city.
www.icehousedetroit.blogspot.com

Life Magazine photo spread of Detroit Ruins

2010-02-08T18:14:00.000-08:00

It seems there was a Life Magazine photo journalist wandering the back alleys of Detroit during the same time period as myself.
It also seems that we visited a great many of the same sites, not because there is a shortage of such sites, more likely due to the fact that the sites we both visited were so profoundly present, accessible and in your face. One can only hope that the Life Magazine photo essay will help me in my quest for funding for my endeavor. Find it here: http://www.life.com/image/first/in-gallery/36682/detroit-still-life

Bombed out truck at the abandoned Packard Motors Plant

2010-02-08T12:20:00.000-08:00

It seems this truck started on the 4th floor of the Packard plant until some local activists decided to alter the scenery. It landed right were I snapped it.: http://jalopnik.com/5398818/dang-detroit-kids-push-abandoned-dump-truck-out-packard-plant-window

2010-02-08T08:31:00.000-08:00