Artist Statement
At some point in the past two years, the Detroit Masonic Temple, located in the historic Cass Corridor, became a home to me. I developed an attachment and it came naturally to photograph all the magnificent and minute details of the historical building. I had to document the space as it intrigued me that I had somehow built a private relationship with an immensely public place, and I treated the Masonic with the intimacy that one would share with a domestic place. Utterly comforted by a sense of its history and the wornness of the space, this series focuses on the details to describe the diverse groups of people that have inhabited the building since its completion in 1926. This building feels familiar, complete with threadbare carpets and pleasant faces that greet me by name. But, like any relationship, there is still so much to be learned and the more I photograph, the more I understand about the building, the city, and my place in both.
Copyright Bridget Burke 2012-2016- All Rights Reserved