DETROIT – Detroit After Dark at the Detroit Institute of Arts captures the life of the city with colorful photos and dark, empty scenes.
The photography exhibition embodies Detroit’s music scene, streets, people and buildings through photos taken in the city at night.
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The images are from the DIA’s permanent collection and include contrasting photos, such as black-and-white shots of buildings on empty streets and a bright image of the Senate Theater lit up on Michigan Avenue.
People also dot some of the street shots, adding a human element to dark and still moments in time.
The photos show multiple sides of Detroit, such as the beauty and life of the city, as well as its abandoned and nearly forgotten side. Such images give a glimpse into Detroit that some may not see otherwise.
The approach to documenting the city at night is both artistic and powerful, an almost private look into what makes Detroit, from skylines to quiet streets to the people that call the city home.
The music scene is summed up in intimate color and black-and-white photos, including a shot of Jack White and Meg White performing at Gold Dollar Bar in 1999, and Iggy Pop at Bookies Club in 1980. Photos from Baker’s Keyboard Lounge and the Grande Ballroom also give a look into Detroit’s entertainment venues.
Entertainment portraits are also in the gallery, including Detroit hip-hop artists shot against city landmarks, such as Michigan Central Station.
The exhibit features mostly work from Detroit artists who have spent their time documenting the city and continue to shoot the night, though it also includes the work of some visiting photographers. Robert Frank's rarely seen City Hall, Detroit, taken in 1955, is in the gallery.
There are also some photos from Paris and New York taken between 1920 and 1960 on display. According to the DIA, the pictures were included to help establish “Detroit’s place in the visual tradition of nighttime photography.”
DIA Curator of Photography Nancy Barr came up with the idea for the exhibit after seeing series of photographers inspired by the night and Detroit music scene.
A 112-page catalogue of the photos can also be purchased for $35, and includes essays by Barr, Sara Blair, professor of English language and literature at University of Michigan and Chris Tysh, a Detroit-based poet and senior lecturer at Wayne State University.
Detroit After Dark is on display at the DIA until April 23.