Towering construction cranes silhouetted against the downtown skyline are a welcome sight to all Detroiters. In many of the city’s neighborhoods however, an equal and opposite ‘development’ has taken place. Years of neglect, abandonment, arson, and ultimately, demolition of hundreds of homes have resulted in thousands of acres of mostly vacant land. Once thriving areas of family, community, and commerce have succumbed to reforestation were sightings of ring-neck pheasant and other wildlife are not uncommon. Fueled by my passion for this city, and perhaps the melancholy of youthful nostalgia, I returned to some of those nearly extinct neighborhoods to document what remains. From the modest homes of common laborers to the grand opulence of the motor city’s aristocracy, I’ve created, and continue to add to, a series of digital paintings from among the hundreds of dwellings I’ve photographed over the past several years. Set aside for a moment the complex dynamics of how we arrived at this place in time, and you too might see the ‘beauty among the ruins.’ - Milkmoney -