Facing my Demons

About a month ago, TIME magazine did a story on Detroit, and had a spectacular photo essay of abandoned buildings in the city. I was stunned by the photographs, particularly the Fisher Body Plant 21, which this is, and thought "I have GOT to go there, when I am in Detroit!" Then the insecurities started to set in... Is it in a bad neighborhood? Are there homeless or druggies in there? So I called my friend Kyle who lived there, and he said he had been in there. "Bring a flashlight - you will need it to see, and it makes a good weapon, just in case." Yikes! Just what I didn't need to hear. So I made myself crazy worrying about it. I WANTED into this building so bad, and it was eating away at me. It was getting to me badly enough that I thought, "OK, I will just go to the convention and forget this crazy idea." But that would mean I was a failure. As the time approached, however, I thought I would at least go take a look at it when I landed. I would at least just photograph the outside - I wouldn't have to go inside. It was raining and overcast when I arrived at the plant - perfect weather for this subject! I found two small businesses across the street from the factory, and there were cars parked out front, so I just parked my car with them, and knew it would be safe. I got my camera and umbrella and started shooting from outside the fence. I slowly walked around the building, and found some plywood ripped off a window. A way in! Then I saw a fence I could squeeze through if I needed to... A way out! Then on the back side, I found a whole plywood panel removed - a third exit. So I finally took a chance and went inside. The short version of the story is that there was no one inside. I photographed there for about two hours, inside and out, and finally summoned enough courage to go to the upper floors, one by one, until I got to the fifth floor. I cannot begin to tell you of the joy I felt when I was finally done and knew what great photographs I had. And even more importantly, that I had faced my demons, and gone WAY outside of my comfort zone, but had gotten the photographs. This plant, Fisher Body 21 was the birthplace of countless Cadillacs, and Fisher became the industry standard. The plant closed in the early 1990's. The building was built in 1919 and designed by the architect Albert Kahn, who was the foremost industrial architect in America. He is sometimes called "the Architect of Detroit."