NATHANIEL C. SHANNON

DETROIT COMMUNITY GOLF COURSE.
This series was produced for a group show of artists originally hailing from Detroit. It was inspired by two things. The onslaught of hipsterdom / gentrification in “urban” areas such as Brooklyn, Detroit, Atlanta, and "ruin porn" photography which has become very hip in Detroit.  I wanted to make work addressing these two topics, as so many outsiders come to town and try and capture what they feel is the "vibe" of the town with no personal investment. I chose to photograph the model golfing, representing a stereotypically “white” businessman’s game. The “white face” makeup was used as satire of the vaudevillian blackface. The juxtaposition of an African male in “white face” playing golf throughout the burnt out eastside of Detroit was my comment on the disregard of the positives of city and the focus on the decay and future profit.