Italian Photographers Publish Book Of Old Photos They Found In Detroit Streets

In 2009 and 2010, Italian photographers Arianna Arcara and Luca Santese walked the streets of Detroit on a photographic mission. 

They set out to find lost, thrown out, and forgotten photographs of the city’s past. Their collection eventually grew to include ‘thousands of polaroids, letters, prints of photographic evidence, police documents, mugshots and family albums.’ 

The project has now been published in book form and is simply titled, Found Photos In Detroit. It’s a very intimate look at the history of a struggling city.

Here’s an excerpt from Vince Leo‘s review of the book:

“Within the form of the book, Arcara and Santese have constructed a shelter for these homeless images and, by extension, renewed meaning and social contact for their subjects. In the process, they have also created a powerful document of contemporary Detroit that moves beyond the bailout and the romanticized urban ruins of good times past to address the human tragedy that are the results of inequality, racism, and political impotence."