Hi-Way Collision
by Kris Rasmusson
Title
Hi-Way Collision
Artist
Kris Rasmusson
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Woodward Avenue is a legendary road that begins in Motown and angles north to Pontiac with Birmingham Michigan being at the midway point. The iconic boulevard has long been associated with the history of the automobile. In the 1950’s rebellious teens drag raced from Mile road to Mile road, their fuzzy dice dancing to the music of Elvis and Little Richard. Today we have the annual Woodward Avenue Dream Cruise every August. I lived in Birmingham in the 1980’s in a humble two bedroom home about a block west of Woodward Avenue and several blocks south of an eye catching body shop called Hi-Way Collision. Many a south bound driver has had their head turned by the ornate brickwork and cheeky name that graces the Birmingham landmark. I knew I wanted to photograph the shop in the light of a full moon and when the ground was painted with a dusting of snow. On a cold February evening I was heading home along Woodward Avenue when I noticed a 1979 Cadillac Eldorado parked next to Hi-Way Collision. I couldn’t help but notice that its color was a near perfect match of the shop’s reddish brick. Once home, I grabbed my Linhof Technica and soon had my Gitzo tripod planted firmly at a primo angle to catch the glory of a bygone era. Years later the photograph was displayed at the annual “Our Town” show at the Birmingham Community House. It was purchased by a local businessman named Ken Dischell who promptly contacted me and relayed that the photo caught his attention because he also had 1979 Eldorado that was almost identical to the one in the photo. An long friendship began that included the business mogul buying a half dozen more photos which he displayed in his art collection alongside the work of Pablo Picasso and Edward Hopper.
Uploaded
March 19th, 2012
Statistics
Viewed 284 Times - Last Visitor from White Plains, NY on 04/15/2024 at 10:34 PM
Embed
Share
Sales Sheet
