This project tugged at my heart. Like photographer Philip Jarmain, I am drawn to Detroit: Jarmain to document its sorrowful destruction in the series American Beauty, me because it was my second city as I grew up across the border in London, Ontario. (Above, Greyhound Lines, 2014, © Philip Jarmain Studio.)
The photographs in Jarmain’s American Beauty result from a dozen trips to Detroit over a period of five years to research and record the city’s once-important, now abandoned and disappearing architecture. Even as a child, Jarmain was drawn to dark stories and fascinated by tragedies and dark comedies – tinged with the bitterness of adult experience.
With photography as my chosen medium, the abandoned and disappearing architecture of early twentieth-century Detroit offered a story with many layers of complexity and irony.
Philip Jarmain
The architecture and ambience of the Motor City were once exquisite verifications of Detroit’s success, a unique mix that Philip Jarmain captured, even in the city’s unending deterioration.
For me, the vibe in the downtown core of Detroit was still commanding in the mid-1960s, when the power and money of the auto industry remained obvious in every part of life. A frequent visitor to the city, I was taken to the iconic Hudson’s department store twice a year for school clothes, better (and for a while, cheaper) than Canada.
Philip Jarmain’s work portrays the passion he feels in this once great city; his photographs offering a chance for a narrative he felt needed to be told and to perhaps provide the potential to effect change.
A link to stories about the architecture and history of these buildings appear at the end of this post.
Philip Jarmain grew up near London, Ontario, with part of his childhood spent in Switzerland and Ireland. A childhood love of storytelling led to early fascination with film, photography and cameras. Short dramas shot with an 8 mm wind-up camera were a passion. He trained in film (Vancouver Film School), and for some years worked in lighting for feature films and episodic television, and later as stills photographer for film. While establishing himself as a full time artist in photography, Jarmain supports himself as a commercial photographer specializing in conceptual advertising, based in Vancouver, where he lives, and Toronto. He is the recipient of multiple Lürzers Archive and Communication Arts awards and other international honors.
Images courtesy of Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, here.
Philip Jarmain’s website, here.
His Instagram, here.
American Beauty – The Opulent Pre-Depression Architecture of Detroit
Go to this page to see the stories of the buildings
Discover more from Canadian Art Junkie
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
What haunting photos. I don’t know Detroit at all, but felt so sad seeing these images. They really tug at the heartstrings. The detail in the buildings!
Fingers crossed, that Detroit will become great. Photographs are beautiful but so sad. I can practically feel them when they were in their prime and full of happy, people.
Great when they were in their prime, for certain. I think everyone would like to see Detroit resurrected, such an iconic city for so many reasons. Thank you for that comment .
It could be a wonderful city again and I really believe it will be.
Fantastic photos, and also sad. My sister in law is in Detroit now. It’s trying to come back.
Yes, these are a special combination of sad and beautiful, I agree. I know the city is trying to come back and I wish everyone involved much luck. Special place. Thanks for your comment.