Ghosts of Industry: Detroit

Detroit puts a hole in my heart. I think of all of the jobs and dreams that were created by the auto industry in its heyday. I think of all the immigrants who came here and of the black people who migrated up from the South when mechanization of cotton harvesting put them out of work. The middle-class lives they had. The fleeting decades of prosperity. And, now, Detroit's shame. The empty, weed-chokes lots. The solitary houses on otherwise vacant blocks, like a single tooth in an old man's mouth.

I drove through yesterday in search of b-roll for a mini-documentary video about collaboration between IBM Research scientists and UMich students to use advanced solar forecasting to help the students win the big solar car race that's coming in Australia in October. Wanted a visual contrast of the old industry and the new, so shot some video of the old Packard plant--a popular stop for urban-decay tourists. In the end, I decided it didn't fit. Too dark.

I drove around with Motown sounds in my head, but couldn't find any on the radio...