The detritus of Detroit

The fact that Detroit has become the largest US city to file for bankruptcy prompted the inevitable parade of dereliction porn - something I probably shouldn't condone, but the images are just so compelling.

Here are some of the bleak and stunning photos taken by Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre for their book The Ruins Of Detroit, which depict the city as some kind of modern-day Pompeii, once grand but abandoned in a hurry. Meanwhile Andrew Moore's photos - which are in a similar vein to Marchand and Meffre's - have been constructively contrasted with those of Camilo Jose Vergara, who has photographed many of the same scenes but revisited them over a period of years and picked up on positive changes and developments rather than simply portraying a city in a depressingly irreversible state of decline.

On a tangential note, here is an equally impressive collection of images from the UAE. While the gleaming skyscrapers certainly aren't ruins, the images give the viewer an uneasy feeling because people are absent, as is any real speck or glimmer of humanity - and in this light the buildings, while architecturally striking, appear harsh and utterly alien.

(Thanks to Abbie for the Marchard and Meffre link.)