Zone 8 – USA
Detroit's decline can be traced back to the late 1950's with the development of suburbs and a progressive exodus out of the city. Detroit was once an industrial powerhouse with an economy that centred around the production of the automobile with a population that climaxed at 1.8 million.
In the year 2000 Detroit's population fell below 1 million. Today it has less than 700,000 residents living among tens of thousands of abandoned buildings, vacant lots, and unlit streets after decades of decay. In 2013 the city became the largest municipality in US history to file for bankruptcy with an estimated debt of $18-20 billion.
Like too many in the city of Detroit, the neighbourhood known as Zone 8 (named after the zipcode 48208 to which it belongs) is plagued by crime, drugs, and almost complete lack of work opportunities for its residents. Like Detroit as a whole, the area was once a thriving community with shops that attracted people from all over the city. Today aside from a few liquor stores and gas stations there are very few businesses and those that do exist are not run by local residents.
Among those who have held on and remained despite the downfall of their city and their neighbourhood, a shred of hope still remains that the vibrancy will return as other small sections of Detroit experience a comeback. The question is whether pending gentrification will have respect for those who have made it through the thick and thin.
Photographs taken between 2011 and 2016.
An abandoned, dilapidated home, like so many in Detroit, sits overgrown on a street in the neighbourhood of Zone 8.
Sixty-five-year-old Henry Ruffin points as he sits in his room at his family home on Ferry Park Avenue.
A Zone 8 message written inside of a run-down house in the neighbourhood.
Greg on Ferry Park Street.
Roger Walker, 20 sits on the bed that was his as a child in the dilapidated home on Winslow Street that was once occupied by his family. Roger lost his life over a cellphone in 2012.
Security footage at the liquor store at Grand River and McGraw Avenues shows a man standing on his car trying to break inside with a cinderblock.
A woman named Sue strikes a pose inside of the liquor and convenience store on Grand River and McGraw Avenues.
Steve Orow, not a resident of the area, seated at the office of his Royal Tire Warehouse on Grand River in Zone 8.
One of the only functioning businesses, the liquor store at Grand River and McGraw Avenues with a security perimeter on its roof.
Patrick Andrews, standing in a community garden just outside of Zone 8, shows the scars he received after being shot on three separate occasions. In 2011 Patrick planned on becoming a Nurse and shared the knowledge he gained from his experience towards positive change through involvement with youth.
Mick Shumate aka Scone holds the program from his wife's funeral. He lost his soulmate, known as Tonya, in 2012.
Mick Shumate stands on the grass next to a military base at Grand River Avenue and McGraw Street where once stood Olympia Stadium, home of the Detroit Red Wings.
A photograph of a smiling four-month-old granddaughter of Mick Shumate hangs inside his van.
A man holds a younger member of his family during the 2014 annual 'Restoring the Neighbor Back to the 'Hood' event on Fairy Park Avenue.
Balloons float above a fence off of 14th Street.
Ronnie MacAfee stands in front of the Quarter House which he helped realize in Zone 8 for people in dire need of a place to stay and a way to get back on their feet.
At the corner of McGraw Avenue and Lawton Street where there was once a popular party store that attracted customers from all over Detroit.
A man poses for a photo on Ferry Park Street.