Published
Fri, Nov 15, 2019, 00:55
- Stacey Hotwaxx Hale, Mike Banks and Theo Parrish are among those featured in the book, out in May.
Photographers Isaac Diggs and Edward Hillel will publish Electronic Landscapes: Music, Space And Resistance in Detroit, this May.
The book, comprising 65 photos and two essays, stemmed from a trip to Detroit for Movement Detroit in 2011. The duo, who previously worked together on a book called 125th: Time in Harlem, became interested in how the landscape of Detroit shaped the sounds created by its electronic musicians.
Over five years, Diggs and Hillel spotlighted crucial Detroit figures like UR's "Mad" Mike Banks, Theo Parrish, Stacey Hotwaxx Hale, Rick Wilhite and Amp Fiddler. Electronic Landscapes vividly portrays studios and club spaces within which the history of Detroit electronic music has unfolded.
"Before beginning Electronic Landscapes, Edward and I discussed photographic representations of Detroit in books and articles; we were not interested in understanding or depicting the city as a 'post-apocalyptic ruin,'" Diggs told RA. "In visualizing the city through its music culture we capture the optimism, energy and entrepreneurial spirit impacting Detroit's contemporary landscape. The artists we highlight understand the connection between space and cultural production. They are renovating buildings, running businesses, maintaining community and advocating for their future in Detroit. Edward and I want to illuminate the multiple contributions of this creative class beyond the dance floor, and provide a visual counterpoint to conventional ways of visualizing Detroit."
Diggs and Hillel are currently running a Kickstarter campaign to fund the publishing of Electronic Landscapes.
They plan to publish the book and exhibit their work at Detroit's outdoor public art space, The Heidelberg Project, in May 2020 in time for this year's edition of Movement.
Stacy Hotwaxx Hale, 2015
Rick Wilhite's Basement Studio, 2015
Kenny Dixon Label Headquarters, 2017
(Main photo is UR's John Collins At Home, 2014.)
Rick Wilhite's Basement Studio, 2015
Kenny Dixon Label Headquarters, 2017 (Main photo is UR's John Collins At Home, 2014.)