Day 178 2010 365, originally uploaded by LesterSpence.

Part of a series. I don’t normally buy into the notion that we’ve got to counter “negative” images with “positive” ones, largely because both are part and parcel of a move that smoothes over critical aspects of American life. In this case both the “positive” and the “negative” pictures of Detroit blind people to the economic and political decisions that made Detroit the poster-child of rustbelt cities. But given the contemporary focus on Detroit ruin porn, I thought I’d go against that narrative. I took this picture as part of my ongoing 365 series (since January 1, 2010 I’ve taken at least one picture a day).