For two weeks in January, I took snapshots of three places in West Michigan. These areas are places where I grew up, places my family has a connection to. Most of these photographs are of one stretch of highway in Muskegon, Michigan. Laketon Avenue used to be a busy patch of industry; now, as one factory after another has shut its doors for good, a grim quiet has settled over the highway.
These photographs are just a small piece of what I noticed while trying to understand what is happening to the community I grew up in. Whether it is a photograph of a paper mill that thousands of people depended on for their livelihood, or one a torn-down racetrack that was once intended to create permanent jobs for a small but struggling population, these photographs are not meant to be beautiful, or perhaps even interesting; they are simply meant to preserve a place and a time.
Port-O-John and Tree. Great Lakes Downs. Muskegon, Michigan.
Climbing up the hill. Ferrysburg, Michigan.
Golddiggers Pawn Shop. Laketon Avenue. Muskegon, Michigan.
Good news. Laketon Avenue. Muskegon, Michigan.
Walking to the Trailerpark. Ferrysburg, Michigan.
Closed factory. Laketon Avenue. Muskegon, Michigan.
Making concrete into gravel. Site of old Great Lakes Downs. Muskegon, Michigan.
Chairs and a water tower. Site of old Great Lakes Downs. Muskegon, Michigan.
Northshore Trailer Park. Ferrysburg, Michigan.
Paper mill. Laketon Avenue. Muskegon, Michigan.
New Beginnings Life Center. Laketon Avenue. Muskegon, Michigan.
Bridge at the park. Laketon Avenue. Muskegon, Michigan.
Blue's Clues. Site of old Great Lakes Downs. Muskegon, Michigan.
Stalled construction. Laketon Avenue. Muskegon, Michigan.
Snow. Laketon Avenue. Muskegon, Michigan.
Boy catching snowflakes. Ferrysburg, Michigan.
City mission. Laketon Avenue. Muskegon, Michigan.
No Horses. Ferrysburg, Michigan.
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Junkyard dog. Laketon Avenue. Muskegon, Michigan.
Dumping. Site of old Great Lakes Downs. Muskegon, Michigan.
Final post. Site of old Great Lakes Downs. Muskegon, Michigan.
Blue house. Laketon Avenue. Muskegon, Michigan.
Bird in the branches. Ferrysburg, Michigan.
Closed taco stand. Laketon Avenue. Muskegon, Michigan.
Abortion and starvation. Laketon Avenue. Muskegon, Michigan.
Mom in parking lot. Laketon Avenue. Muskegon, Michigan.
Empty parking lot. Laketon Avenue. Muskegon, Michigan.
Dry cleaners. Old Grand Haven Road. Ferrysburg, Michigan.