It took him a while, but Australian photographer Nic Walker has posted a video on YouTube composed of still photos and sound that chronicles the activities of the Detroit and Highland Park fire departments from 2010.
Its title is chilling: "Caretakers of the Apocalypse."
While the work is a video, the images consist only of still photos, which Walker combined with the sound of fires, firefighters talking and the department radio.
Walker won an award for an early version of the video. This five-minute version has been posted on his journal's website and may be entered in an Australian film festival.
Walker began thinking of the project when he visited Detroit in November 2009 to shoot a story for the Melbourne-based Financial Review Magazine about the decline of the once-great industrial cities of America. He said he kept running into fires as he made his way around Detroit.
“I met the fire fighters from Highland Park and straight away I knew wanted to tell their story,” Walker said in an email. “They gave me access to a fire that you could only dream of in Australia because of all the red tape and rules we have in this nanny state we call home.
Walker returned with a friend, Sarah Down, during Christmas 2010, to shoot the photos.
“I wasn't sure what to expect and what angle it was going to take,” he said.
“I just thought it was an amazing story about how a once-powerful, wealthy city had slipped so far. I saw it as a perfect example of the failure of capitalism and found it interesting how the city has almost been forgotten about by much of the rest of the nation. I just thought I should go in winter as I thought the snow would enhance the imagery.
Walker said the story evolved to be more about “the heroes that are the Detroit fire department.”
He said: “I found their hospitality, their bravery and their willingness to help amazing. Their stories and their views became the backbone to the story. I think the piece ended up a homage to the firefighters that I encounter more than just another piece on the fall of Detroit.”
Thanks to Scott Ziegler of the Highland Park Fire Department for the tip about this video.
