The Detroit Sanctuary Project
I’m from Michigan.
It’s funny though, as you get older, you run as far away as possible from where you came, run fast as you can from that normal job and normal life, and change your life six ways from Kansas and back, then you tell everyone you meet you’re from the place you did everything in your power to leave.
So yeah, I’m from Michigan.
Which is good, because somehow that seems to satisfy the question of “Why?” every time someone asks me. And they nod, as though I were offering the one explanation that will justify the situation at hand.
Why? Why am I intent on taking a picture of every house of worship in Detroit? Why is this clearly liberal, obviously (and quite specifically) non-religious, more-than-likely-not-wearing-pants womanchild putting her face forward as the spokesperson for the anywhere from 1200-2500 churches, synagogues, temples and sanctuaries in Detroit?I’m from Michigan….
This is the point where they stop me and nod. No more explanation needed, I’m from Michigan and their sympathies understandably lie with my upbringing. However, I would like to finish that sentence.
I’m from Michigan and I have seen the decline of Detroit in my lifetime and it breaks my heart. I’m from Michigan and I know how special people Detroit are and how they have continued to keep on keeping on. I’m from Michigan and what I have seen in the communities surrounding houses of worship is incredible and powerful and can make real change at a real level.
I’m from Michigan and despite not particularly caring for how religion has been used negatively in our societies, and how it isn’t something that specifically appeals to me, I recognize that these spaces and communities bring people together. They connect people. They tell people they are going to be ok.
Currently, in the modern municipal culture of the United States, there is no category for sanctuary outside of the religious model. We have community centers, shelters, and need-and-mission based hosts. However, for a group to come together and request a permanent gathering space for sharing, celebration, expression, performance and congregation open to the general public, outside of the religious model, we have no formal classification.
This kind of bugs me. A lot.
That said, I’m not here to change the world…today. I’m here to help facilitate a large group of people to photograph and inventory every house of worship in Detroit. I’m hoping all these photographs will start some conversations about sanctuary, safe spaces, how important the strength of our communities are, and to show a community that is giving it it’s all. A community that has the strength, in whatever capacity possible, to create one of the highest densities and diversities of houses of worship in any urban area in the United States.
So this project, The Detroit Sanctuary Project, has been my worming it’s way in my head and heart for two years now. It started as this odyssey of self, combing each street of Detroit, and taking a picture just as I see fit, and then explaining my vision and my art and my attempt at translation of these concepts and my being from Michigan.
Screw that.
Why translate the product, when you can have your audience create the product? Why not bring everyone together to do this? Why not have people touch and feel their own creation? They made these communities, they made these houses of worship, why shouldn’t they make the art? So, they will, and they are.
With some incredible love, and some great publicity, we have received a good number of inquiries for people to participate in this project, and make The Detroit Sanctuary Project a reality and gather this inventory of images and spaces. All these images will be made into a massive photo book and a huge public mural. No, I have never made either, but I can, and I will, because we are.
It is happening every day. Just when I get frustrated, wondering what the hell I’m doing, or how it’s going to happen…an email shows up. An email with a picture. An email saying how excited they are to participate. An email saying their classroom wants to be a part of it. An email saying their business wants to help out one of the churches.
And then the email showed up that changed everything.
The email that showed up thanking me. The email thanking me for including the black churches of Detroit. The email that stated in that historian’s fifty years in the City, she had never seen the black churches included any photographic project on Detroit’s houses of worship. That’s when it hit me that this project has nothing to do with the photographs, and everything to do with the sanctuary we provide for each other.
I’m crying as I write this, because that email stings and that sting won’t go away. It still tells me we have a long way to go in recognizing our fellow man for who they are, which is another human being. It tells me this project can make a difference, and while I might not have a normal job, or a normal life, I’m kind of glad I don’t, because I might not have time to read all those emails.
Thanks for taking the time to check out The Detroit Sanctuary Project and give the video a watch. If you are in the Detroit area any time over the next three months, I invite you to be a contributing photographer to the project. Everyone is welcome. Be a part of something incredible.
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-detroit-sanctuary-project/x/100036