James Griffioen, Feral Houses
Try conjuring up an image of Detroit in your mind. I can pretty much guarantee that it looks nothing like James Griffioen‘s series Feral Houses. The city has been making headlines in the last couple of years for being one of the places worst hit by the recession (and other headlines in the photo-community for being the favourite destination of lazy photographers looking for cheap photographs of desolation and ruin in modern America). I don’t know if Griffioen is lazy or not (somehow I doubt it), but I couldn’t help liking his series Feral Houses (I am Australian after all and the word feral is like a national treasure to us). I have to say I don’t think these photographs are particularly proficient, and they may be a bit of a cheap thrill showing nature eating up the ruins of the golden years of American industry, but they did show me something I was really not expecting to see.
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2 Comments
james griffioen here.
I’m a Detroit resident with no photography training who has been trying to document these houses for about four years now. I do think I have gotten better (and have gotten better equipment) over time. And I am actually the guy who called the out-of-town photographers lazy in the Vice article.
Thanks for commenting James and for shedding a bit more light on the work you are doing and also for reminding me where I read that article on lazy out-of-town photographers in Detroit! Look forward to following more of your work.