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Over the past generation Detroit has suffered economically worse than any other of the major American cities and its rampant urban decay is now glaringly apparent during this current recession. Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre documented this disintegration, showcasing structures that were formerly a source of civic pride, and which now stand as monuments to the city's fall from grace.
"Ruins are the visible symbols and landmarks of our societies and their changes, small pieces of history in suspension. The state of ruin is temporary by nature, the volatile result of the end of an era and the fall of empires. This fragility, the time elapsed but even so running fast, lead us to watch them one very last time: being dismayed, or admiring, wondering about the permanence of things. Photography appeared to us as a modest way to keep a little bit of this ephemeral state."
Summary
“The state of ruin is essentially a temporary situation that happens at some point, the volatile result of a change of era
and the fall of empires. Ruins are a fantastic land where one no longer knows whether reality slips into a dream or
whether, on the contrary, dream makes a brutal return into the most violent of realities.”
Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre
Over the past generation Detroit has suffered economically worse than any other of the major American cities and its
rampant urban decay is now glaringly apparent. Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre have documented this disintegration,
showcasing structures that were formerly a source of civic pride, and which now stand as monuments to the city’s fall
from grace. This is the third edition of this award-winning book.
Born in 1981 and 1987 in the Parisian suburbs, Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre began to photograph separately
in 2001. They began to work as a duo at the beginning of their project on the ruins of Detroit in 2005.
