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Extravagant Parking
Extravagant Parking
EddyG


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Out of Place (Basic Editing I)
Camera: Canon EOS-10D
Lens: Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L USM
Location: Detroit, MI
Date: Mar 30, 2004
Aperture: 8.0
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/2 sec
Galleries: Urban, Architecture
Date Uploaded: Mar 30, 2004

 This is what remains of the luxurious Michigan Theatre. I thought the "re-use" of the theatre for parking might make for an interesting "Out Of Place" shot.

The theatre originally opened in downtown Detroit in 1926. It was seven stories tall and was the biggest movie theatre in the city with over 4,000 seats.

In 1967, the theatre closed due to dropping attendance and was slated for demolition. Various attempts were made at reviving it with brief reincarnations as a supper club, porn cinema, and concert hall, but none were successful. The theatre was abandoned for good in 1975.

In 1977, a proposal was made to demolish the theatre to provide parking. But architects soon discovered that the adjoining 13-story office tower was structually dependent on the theatre. So the engineers recommended that the shell of the building be retained and used as part of an indoor parking structure.

And so, here it is. The main entrance foyer (shown in the photograph) was wide enough for entry and exit of vehicles, and the grand staircase was adapted to fit in a parking ramp. A three-level steel-and-concrete parking structure was inserted into the main auditorium area (just visible to the left in the picture) to provide 160 parking spaces.

I climbed over some barricades and up a dark, dilapidated staircase to get to this vantage point -- what used to be a balcony on the second floor that overlooked the grand foyer. There was no railing left at all, so it was kind of freaky being so close to the edge. I set up my tripod, and used my new Canon 16-35/2.8L (at 16mm) and 550EX (to help illuminate the ceiling) to capture this shot.

Statistics
Place: 35 out of 241
Avg (all users): 5.8201
Avg (commenters): 6.6364
Avg (participants): 5.5577
Avg (non-participants): 5.9770
Views since voting: 1335
Votes: 278
Comments: 12
Favorites: 0

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AuthorThread
 Comments Made During the Challenge
Canon EOS-30D
Tokina AF 12-24mm f/4.0 AT-X Pro DX
 04/06/2004 01:23:14 PM
Too bad about the blown out edge on the right, but cool shot nonetheless. These types of shots are hard to pull off without having lots of distractions like the ones present here. Original idea.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-300D Rebel
 04/06/2004 12:41:10 AM
Wonderful picture. Great job.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Fujifilm FinePix 3800
 04/05/2004 10:34:35 AM
Must be Detroit!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM
 04/04/2004 03:57:05 PM
clever
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Pentax *ist DS
Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF
 04/04/2004 03:06:32 PM
Roof is definitely out of place. Maybe would have been better with fewer cars, but that may not be an option.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi
Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS for Canon
 04/02/2004 02:21:44 PM
Very strange!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-30D
 03/31/2004 09:44:29 PM
Probably in the comments, but where is this?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Sony DSC-F828
 03/31/2004 08:41:21 PM
I wish my garage was that nice.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon Coolpix 4500
 03/31/2004 11:59:28 AM
is this place for real???
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Sony DSC-F828
 03/31/2004 09:38:00 AM
good job at framing this one. I like the contrast of the cement pillars on one side and the comcrete on the other ....great
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-450D Rebel XSi
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
 03/31/2004 09:28:42 AM
Very good, creative shot! The overexposure on the right hand side of the image is a bit distracting, but this meets the challenge very well and is well composed. 7
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/31/2004 12:39:59 AM
i do not like this picture it is way to busy and distracting.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
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