Nice series of pictures by photographer Seth Butler, in which he documents the use (or misuse) of “the ubiquitous, evocative and complex symbol of America’s self-image”, the Stars & Stripes, in everyday America: Tattered: Investigation of an American icon
Photo CC: Shane Gorski
You are about to witness the exciting story of a city and its people. It will be an adventure that will open new sights in familiar surroundings. That city is Detroit. Home of nearly two million people.
Proud words that open the documentary “Requiem For Detroit” by Julian Temple, commissioned by the BBC. Words that stem from an old promotional film, spoken by one of Detroit’s former mayors. What Julian Temple does with these words and the corresponding image is so simple, yet powerful that I got goosebumps running down my spine. He took that old promotional film and projected it onto decaying ruins of Detroit’s inner city and had the voice of the former mayor echo through empty windows and abandoned hallways. A technique he utilizes more than once during the 75 minutes of this fantastic documentary. Temple talks to artists, poets, urban explorers and many others that lead him through decaying urban landscapes, telling about the rise and fall of what was once one of the most influential cities of the Industrial Age. Julian Temple says:
Detroit was the frontier city in the US, powering the American dream. What I find fascinating is the fact that it is still ahead of the game, becoming the first big US city to virtually fall off the map.
A Must-Watch! Right now right here. Hurry now, before YouTube takes it down.
Part 1:
Hit the jump for the rest of documentary:
Continue reading ‘BBC Documentary “Requiem For Detroit”’
At age 18, Mike Brodie took his Polaroid camera and began exploring the US by train. On his three year voyage he saw a part of America that can hardly be further away from what normally inflates our collective memory of US pop culture or tourist hearsay. It’s the world of vagabonds, hobos and freighthoppers. Brodie calls it “travel culture” and he came home with hundreds of amazing Polaroid pictures of an alternative American way of life between track beds and freight depots. He became known as the Polaroid Kidd, and his photographs can be seen at exhibitions all over the world.
Needles & Pens has an online collection of his pictures here and here, there are more at Arteven, and DryInk Mag did an interview with The Polaroid Kidd.
Check out D.I.Y. America, a documentary webseries on US subcultures from the creators of the film Beautiful Losers covering two decades of skateboarding, graffiti, punk and the hip hop movement. Interviewees include Ian MacKaye, Shepard Fairey, Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore, Glen Friedman oder Tony Hawk.
Watch the trailer below and the full eleven episodes on WK Entertainment.
Claire Martin‘s portfolio offers a set of amazing pictures of people living in Slab City (Link to Wikipedia), a community of campers and snow birds in the Colorado Desert, southeastern California.
And don’t miss her photo set about the Salton Sea, Californias largest lake, not very far from Slab City.
Right there, on the fringes of Slab City, you will also find Leonard Knight’s Salvation Mountain that we visited during our research trip last fall. Check out these pictures wie took.
The television documentary series “Mister & Missis.Sippi” that was broadcast on German television during the Easter holidays, is now available online via the library of its broadcaster 3sat. There are three parts of 45 minutes each that take its viewers on an entertaining journey by raft on the Mississippi, peeking into some true American backrooms. Please note: The show is available in German with only Interviewees speaking in English. And due to possible geo blocking it might be unavailable in non-German-speaking territories.
Part 1 – From St. Louis to Cairo
Part 2 – From Memphis to Vicksburg
Part 3 – From Saint Francisville to New Orleans
We’ve just added new pictures from rainy Michigan and Ohio to the AMERICAN BACKROOM Flickr photostream. All pictures were shot during our research trip last fall. Go check ‘em out. And don’t forget to leave a comment 
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