Detroit Lost And Found: Vintage Photos Speak Volumes

Photos excerpted from the book Found Photos in Detroit Image: Cesura Publish

In 2009, Italian photographers Arianna Arcara and Luca Santese were on assignment in Detroit to document the US economic crisis. While wandering around the city, they kept coming across old photos. They gathered about 1,500 over the course of two trips and, writes Arcara via email, “we fell in love.”

“We thought we could do a better job working on this material that was actually taken from the people who lived in that town … instead of taking pictures of the aftermath of the crisis.”

And so they compiled about 200 of those photos in a book, Found Photos in Detroit. “Most of the photos are probably from a police station,” Arcara explains, “but the book is not about an archive of the Detroit Police Department.”

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit. Image: Cesurab

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit. Image: Cesurab

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit. Image: Cesurab

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit. Image: Cesurab

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit. Image: Cesurab

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit. Image: Cesurab

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit. Image: Cesurab

With little-to-no context, there’s not much you can do but wonder: about the little boy with the marks on his body, the threatening notes, the water-damage, the little bits of evidence left behind to tell the story of a city ​​and of those who live there.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit. Image: Cesurab

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit. Image: Cesurab

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit. Image: Cesurab

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit. Image: Cesurab

<em>Found Photos in Detroit,</em> February 2012″ class=”lazy” src=”https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2012/07/12/creaminiatura_custom-83dcf875d633601b2b12dd8c073da16a9a6e4918.jpg” data-loading=”https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/images/loading/creaminiatura_custom-83dcf875d633601b2b12dd8c073da16a9a6e4918.jpg”/></p>
<p><em>Found Photos in Detroit,</em> February 2012 Image: Cesura Publish</p>
</div>
<p>In Arcara’s words, the photos “speak for themselves, without the need to fill them with other meaning.”</p>
<div style=These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit. Image: Cesurab

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit. Image: Cesurab

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit. Image: Cesurab

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit. Image: Cesurab

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit. Image: Cesurab

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit. Image: Cesurab

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit. Image: Cesurab

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit. Image: Cesurab

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit. Image: Cesurab

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit. Image: Cesurab

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit. Image: Cesurab

Hat tip to KPCC

Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

These photos from the 1960s-1990s were discovered by two Italian photographers while working in Detroit.

Missing some content? Care to comment? Check the source: NPR

Copyright(c) 2024, NPR