The Straits, a photography exhibition by Andrew Petrov, captures the evolution of Detroit through large-scale images of the city’s art, industry, architecture, and people. The exhibition accompanies the soft opening of Moondog Café and is on view from January 17, 2025, to February 1, 2025, with a public reception on Saturday, January 18, from 6-10 PM.
The city’s name, derived from the French “le Détroit” (the strait), reflects its identity as a crossroads—a maritime intersection linking east and west, north and south, and the United States and Canada. Detroit was a crossing point on the Underground railway, a destination of the Great Migration, and the launchpad for the mass production revolution that has reached every corner of the world.
The Straits explores a city in motion, blending portraiture, photojournalism, and architectural photography to tell the story of Detroit as it enters the second quarter of the new century.
The collection features photographs of Detroit’s vibrant cultural environment, ranging from classical music to techno to traditional Mexican dance. It includes architectural photographs, both of Detroit’s landmarks, such as the Masonic temple and One Woodward avenue, and newly-constructed and restored buildings and installations, such as the Joe Louis Greenway Gateway, the American Riad, and Michigan Central Station.
The exhibition documents the 2022 demolition of the American Motors Corporation headquarters and the 2023 auto workers strike. These thematic images are accompanied by portraits of the people who call Detroit home.
“There is not a simple story in this collection,” says Petrov. “Detroit is a city of change and contrast.” Influenced by the narrative painting of Jacob Lawrence and Diego Rivera and the fiction of John Dos Passos and Sinclair Lewis, The Straits employs 21st-century digital imaging techniques to tell the story of a city in motion.
Andrew Petrov is a Detroit-based photographer and videographer whose work spans multiple genres. He operates Roketa Industries, a Detroit photography studio located in the historic Russell Woods neighborhood. His work for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra has been featured in the Detroit News, and his photography of Russell Woods was included in this year’s State of the City report.
Moondog Café, established in 2024, is located on historic Linwood Avenue in Detroit’s Wildemere neighborhood. The café is a music venue, community gathering space, and coffee bar with a rotating menu of locally produced foods. The Straits marks Moondog Café’s debut art exhibition. Operated by partners Jared Talaga, Rob Nash and Joe Darling, Moondog Café is fully wheelchair accessible. All interior and exterior spaces were designed with inclusivity-first planning.
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Media Details
Business Name: Roketa Industries
Contact Name: Andrew Petrov
Email: andrew@roketaindustries.com
Phone: 302-668-9720
Address: 3728 Sturtevant St Detroit Mi 48206
Website: https://www.roketaindustries.com/thestraits
newsroom: news.38digitalmarket.com
Original Source of the original story >> Photography exhibition explores Detroit in motion
Published by: Randy Rohde