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ARTS & entertainment 1 detroit in focus Photographer shares his love for the city By Joyce Wiswell Some people view Detroit’s abandoned buildings as a depressing symbol of what once was. Photographer Geoff George sees them as an opportunity to learn about the city’s history. “The city keeps knocking these buildings down, and I have a feeling of responsibility in a way to catch them before they’re gone,” said George. “People say that I make Detroit look sad and depressing, but I always find it amazing and fascinating. What is the history of this place, and can it be saved? I’ve always had more positive feelings associated with it.” The 25-year-old believes in Detroit so much that he can’t imagine living anywhere else. “I’ve lived here three and a half years now and I really love it here,” said the West Bloomfield native. While his still photography work is thriving, George does worry that he may have to leave Michigan to pursue his career as a motion picture camera operator. After receiving a degree in film from the University of Michigan, he’d been successful in the state’s once-burgeoning film industry, working as an assistant cameraman in films with budgets as large as million. “Independent movies are tough work and not the most glorious thing in the world,” he said, “but I learned a lot.” Things are not looking as bright for the industry since Gov. Rick Snyder slashed the state’s tax incentives for filmmakers, a move George said he does not understand. “People were really making money on this thing. Young people like me were so excited, and I had friends who either decided to stay in Michigan or moved here from LA,” George said of film’s boom time several years ago. “For the first time ever Michigan was a cool place to live for young people. The Wall Street Journal was calling Detroit the new Hollywood of the East.” Now, George said, five other states are luring film producers with aggressive incentives, and Michigan has “just a skeleton of a film industry here.” He and other advocates have contacted state legislators and spoken at Michigan Film Office meetings. But George believes the ship has sailed for Michigan to capitalize on the interest it created. “A lot of the momentum is gone, and even if we do figure something out, I don’t think it will have the same buzz. But I am sticking it out longer than most people.” With his background, George is a self-described “big fish in a mediumsized pond.” He’s carved out a niche as someone who knows Detroit in and out and can help producers find unique locations and talented workers. “I love being able to pass a job to a friend,” he said. Meanwhile, he continues his still photography, which is largely devoted to chronicling Detroit and its crumbling infrastructure. That talent netted George an ongoing gig as the Detroit photographer for the Detroit-Torino Urban Jazz Project, a musical and multimedia project held in May in Turin, Italy. Detroit and Turin are sister cities that share a background in automotive production, an economic decline Geoff George and hopeful signs of a renaissance. An Italian photographer named Piero Ottaviano searched the Internet for his Detroit counterpart and liked what he saw on George’s website — not realizing that George had already studied Italian in college and spent a summer studying in Italy. The two men’s photographs of their respective cities and the eerie beauty of their abandoned buildings were projected onto a screen behind jazz performances in Turin and featured in a formal exhibition. Ottaviano and George each also photographed the other’s city as part of the project. Now George hopes to bring Urban Jazz in some form to Detroit next year. “That’s my dream,” he said. It’s certainly not his only one. While actively rooting for Detroit to get its film mojo back, he’s staying busy with music videos, commercials and independent films while continuing his still photography. One of his projects, “Troubled Assets,” is a photo series that documents Detroit’s many former bank buildings, a testament to the city’s wealth between 1920 and 1950. Some have morphed into pawn shops, churches or retail operations. The “People” section of his website includes a colorful cast of characters (some in black and white) while “Detroit Dawn” invites viewers to watch the sun rise over Detroit, which George writes is “on the dawn of a new era of prosperity and progress.” The website also includes a blog and a number of short films 2 42 CHALDEAN NEWS NOVEMBER 2011
3 4 5 1. Detroit at dusk 2. Part of the “Troubled Assets” series 3 & 4. The abandoned Michigan Central Station inside and out 5. A rotting dynamite factory in Turin, Italy 6. The old Model T plant George has written, directed and/or shot. It’s ironic that a man who devoted so much time to documenting opportunities lost has become enmeshed in a huge one — Michigan’s fall from favor in the film industry. The state legislature is considering a bill that would earmark 0 million in tax breaks for filmmakers, but George is not terribly optimistic. “I’m trying not to worry about it too much,” he said. “But I’m not 100 percent enthusiastic about Snyder’s interest in this film thing.” Check out more of Geoff George’s work at GSGFilms.com. 6 NOVEMBER 2011 CHALDEAN NEWS 43
