THE OTHER SHINOLA

Photographer Camilo José Vergara has been returning to Detroit regularly for 40 years. He documents the destruction and the ruins but he has also been recording the signs and murals of the city, the visual legacy of African American culture. With a remarkable diversity of style, scale and subject, the paintings on the walls are fading but in Vergara's photographs they shine.

Read Vergara's proposal for The Other Shinola here.

Curry's Auto, 8081 Livernois Ave., Detroit, 1998. Sign by folk artist Eugene.

A homeless folk artist approached the owner of Willie's Garage about painting the façade. The artist painted the story of transportation, a playful arrangement of letters, vehicles, and animals ranging from donkeys to jet planes. In 2015 the former garage is being refurbished. 2520 Michigan Ave., Detroit, 1991.

'67 Lincoln, Willie's Garage, 2250 Michigan Ave., Detroit 1997.

Hand Rinses Car Wash, John R. at Grand Blvd., Detroit, 1999.

Fenkell Ave. at Monica, Detroit, 1995.

Mr. G's Billiard Room, Fenkell at Kentucky, Detroit, 1993.

Mural by Finesse Art Works, Grand River Blvd. at 14th St., Detroit, 1995.

Curtis Lewis, mural depicting an Egyptian pyramid, the Renaissance Center and a portrait of Mayor Dennis Archer, honoring the African American identity of Detroit. The mural has disappeared along with the former Canfield Market, whose back wall it once graced. East Canfield Street at Philip Street, Detroit, 2008.