These images depict Tiger Stadium in Corktown, a neighborhood of Detroit, MI. I photographed the stadium before and during the demolition in the summer and fall of 2008. Demolition has since been stopped and plans for the stadium to become a museum with a useable ballpark, restaurant, and shops are moving forward.



Tiger Stadium Statement

I am often stopped in my tracks to curiously take a closer look at rapid changes in the physical landscape. These changes include natural decay or the use of machinery to alter a terrain on a massive scale. The histories of these structures as well as people's relationships to them are important, especially in light of their inevitable dissolution.

The fate of historic Tiger Stadium has been a topic of great debate since the opening of Comerica Park and it only intensified after the start of demolition at Tiger Stadium during the summer of 2008. Some believe that it is time for this vacant building to be laid to rest. Others have been fighting to raise enough interest and money to preserve the remains of the structure by renovating it into a museum, once again making it into a gathering place for the community.

As a way of documenting what I have observed, I photograph the site. I manipulate the photographs in my prints and drawings, but leave photographic evidence to provide a sense of reality. Drawing or printing etchings over the surface of manipulated photographs makes obvious the physical changes that are in progress.

The visual histories I create help cultivate questions and encourage thoughts about the importance of our memories and our relationships with land and the communities that help define ourselves, our stories, and history.