Vacant Auto Shop
When I first started taking photos in Detroit after I got a camera, I soon heard urban legends passed down for generations from photographer to photographer about entire abandoned warehouses full of cars, boats, and other large items. For the most part, I’ve rarely found anything more than graffitied-up 80’s cars and torched Bayliners.
While exploring the other day, I peeked through the newly exposed window of a building I had meant to document for months. These photographs were shot through a small, dirty pane of glass that measured roughly eight by twelve inches.
The building these cars reside within has a failing roof and is facing foreclosure. The holes in the roof enabled a few inches of snow to fall inside the structure, making for neat photographs. Surely, this process has damaged the cars (and boat) over the years.
Although I love finding new things while taking photos, this one left me curious about why they were all left and who they once belonged to. Did the shop go under, did the owner pass away, or were they somehow just forgotten about?
For the building’s sake, I’m not sharing the location of this one. The fallen window pane cover wasn’t broken and was easy to tack back up. If you do find it, please treat it with respect. It isn't yours, after all.
