In Guernica, WSU professor dissects ‘Detroitism’

Wayne State professor John Patrick Leary takes on the oft-controversial topic of ruins porn; specifically, the works of Andrew Moore’s Detroit Disassembled, Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre’s The Ruins of Detroit and Dan Austin and Sean Doerr’s Lost Detroit.

His diagnoses (namely the section on the three kinds of Detroiters) are both cynical and cutting, rooted in postmodern theory and a sense that our city exists only as a precursor for a larger discussion about the American Dream. The discussion is rich. Join in.

Excerpt:

Photographs like Moore, Marchand, and Meffre’s succeed, at least, in compelling us to ask the questions necessary to put this story together–Detroit’s story, but also the increasingly-familiar story of urban America in an era of prolonged economic crisis. That they themselves fail to do so testifies not only to the limitations of any still image, but our collective failure to imagine what Detroit’s future–our collective urban future–holds for us all.

Leary’s article, along with photos by Marchand and Meffre, can be seen here (scroll down to find his suggested reading list).