ruins of detroit

Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre's, The Ruins of Detroit, simultaneously breaks my heart and awes me with its serene beauty.  The two young Parisian photographers were inspired by the fall of the once-great American city and by how its ruins have become a part of the everyday landscape there.

Michigan Central Station

18th Floor dentist cabinet, David Broderick Tower

United Artists Theater

Melted Clock, Cass Technical High School

Piano, Saint Albertus School

East Methodist Church

Ballroom, Lee Plaza Hotel

Vanity Ballroom

They speak of the ruins best in their own words:

Ruins are the visible symbols and landmarks of our societies 
and their changes, small pieces of history in suspension.


The state of ruin is essentially a temporary situation that happens at 

some point, the volatile result of change of era and the fall of empires.

This fragility, the time elapsed but even so running fast, lead us to watch them one very last time : 

being dismayed, or admire, making us wondering about the permanence of things.

Photography appeared to us as a modest way 

to keep a little bit of this ephemeral state.