Night Photography by Myrna Minx, Zoo Babies Pet Animals
June 3rd, 2008 12:19 PM / Location: 38.666157,-90.24495At the dawn of the 20th century, St. Louis was the fourth largest and first wealthiest city in the United States. But much has changed since then. The city lost more than half of its population in the second half of the 20th century. White Flight led to Urban Blight. And now some of St. Louis' neighborhoods are among the most dangerous in the country, if not THE most dangerous.
But those neighborhoods were built when the city was world class! And they were built of brick and mortar. Blighted shells of neighborhoods were ripe for gentrification, and a decades-long effort to revitalize downtown has just begun to see results, with downtown showing an actual population growth in 2006, the first since 1950.
But the picture is not all roses and rainbows. Downtown proper has seen an amazing resurgence, as has some other neighborhoods in South City, like Lafayette Square and the beautiful old Soulard neighborhood, built by the French. But North St. Louis still looks like the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust. To explore a neighborhood in deepest, darkest night, we went to North City. We did not get out of the car.
I thought it fitting that we explore St. Louis Avenue as a representation of St. Louis. We documented a 3.4 mile stretch from Kingshighway to Florissant Ave, and traversed three neighborhoods: the Ville, Mid-City, and St. Louis Place.
The VilleLong before white flight began to infect the city, the Ville was a black neighborhood, and one of the city's strongest. However, it has since declined along with the surrounding city. The Ville's architectural character is largely defined by small, one-story brick cottages that strive to impress despite their tiny size. Miniature Second Empire and Italianate houses are common, and many of them are still in top condition today. Others have been abandoned.
Mid-City
Much of this area was once industrial; the architectural influences of the adjacent Ville and St. Louis Place neighborhoods can be seen as well. What survives today is largely in ruins.
St. Louis Place
This section of the city is one of the most devastated. Vast tracts of land are completely empty; just south of Cass Avenue the street grid itself no longer exists- it was cleared for the massive and long-since demolished Pruitt-Igoe housing projects. It has been said that Modernism died on March 16th, 1972 with the demolition of Pruitt-Igoe, a housing complex that was supposed to cure many urban ills through design. However, insufficient funding doomed the Utopian project before it was even complete. Modernism died in St. Louis. Ha.
Pruitt-Igoe going down...
Now where the buildings do survive, they're often quite beautiful. St. Louis Avenue is lined with numerous examples of fine architecture, and the surviving houses have a uniform brick construction and a real elegance.
Many of the pictures we took were too blurry to even show here. Some of the ones we are showing are pretty blurry, as well. Baby Animal Petting Zoo and I used the description field to discuss what we would do with the various pictures. We've left our discussion there for your amusement. See for yourself the urban decay that is the yin to an otherwise thriving city's gentrified yang.
4723 and 4721 St. Louis Ave.
LAUX: awesum. MINX: Indeed.
05.20.2008.12.19IMGP8578.JPG
LAUX: this is too blurry MINX: no way, this one is rad.
05.20.2008.12.19IMGP8579.JPG
LAUX: sharpen? MINX: oh, i did. that IS sharp.
05.20.2008.12.19IMGP8580.JPG
evidence of renovation?
05.20.2008.13.01IMGP8583.JPG
LAUX: boring MINX: you're boring.
05.20.2008.13.01IMGP8584.JPG
LAUX: can you darken those lights just a tad? MINX: i could, but...
4683 St. Louis Ave.
Jone's House of Shining Stars
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Minx hearts it.
4365 St. Louis Ave.
True Love Devine
4282 St. Louis Ave.
D.&D. Market
05.20.2008.13.20IMGP8602.JPG
LAUX: use this one
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MINX: let's use both.
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Carter Carburetor Corporation
3117 St. Louis Ave.
Eastern Star Baptist Church
05.20.2008.13.42IMGP8615.JPG
LAUX: delete this one MINX: no.
2729 St. Louis Ave.
Simon Sign Erection LAUX: i like this a lot but the edge of the building on the left side is a bother... MINX: it is, isn't it?
2629 St. Louis Ave.
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future development? or prior demolition?
05.20.2008.13.48IMGP8620.JPG
LAUX: delete MINX: nah
2300 St. Louis Ave.
2200 block of St. Louis Ave.
townhouses.
2240 St. Louis Ave.
Greater Bible Way Community Church LAUX: can you sharpen at all? MINX: again, that IS sharp.
2200 block of St. Louis Ave.
LAUX: crop this one somehow if you can MINX: meh... later.
2223 St. Louis Ave.
Bible Way Apostolic Church, a fine example of Second Empire architecture.
2100 block of St. Louis Ave.
Example of Italianate architecture. LAUX: maybe delete, cool building but not enough contrast with the side of the house and the facade...can you do anything? MINX: yeah, let's go back and take more pictures!
05.20.2008.14.06IMGP8629.JPG
LAUX: maybe make a little more contrasty because that light is kinda washing out the building too much. MINX: looks like it needs a good washing anyway.
05.20.2008.14.06IMGP8630.JPG
Someone's watching television...
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LAUX: really cool MINX: yeah... a favorite.
stl4.jpg
MINX: good job on the crop here, lil buddy.
05.20.2008.14.19IMGP8634.JPG
LAUX: make this one more defined if you can. MINX: i think we'd need a second chance and a tripod...
3200 St. Louis Ave.
Hair Care Designers
05.20.2008.14.19IMGP8636.JPG
LAUX: this is cool but what is it? MINX: It's an empty lot. Weren't you there?
05.20.2008.14.25IMGP8638.JPG
LAUX: blip blap biatch. this is spooky as hell MINX: Wanna go inside?
4101 St. Louis Ave.
Belverly's Full Service Salon
4293 St. Louis Ave.
LAUX: that is a weird ass porch. see if you can lighten the rest of the pic a little and darken it where the porch light is on. MINX: rawr i edit pictures all day at work. :P
05.20.2008.14.29IMGP8644.JPG
LAUX: can you sharpen this at all? MINX: i tried. what a sad phrase- i tried. heh. I'm sure that's what the Realtor will be saying...
05.20.2008.14.29IMGP8645.JPG
LAUX: hmmm....maybe this is like a photoshop total redo, like the picture would have totally whacked out contrast and such.. i'll try making it out. This would be a really cool cover pic.
stl3.jpg
LAUX: this is how i fucked it up all crazy. you probably don't like it very much but i don't have real photoshop. MINX: looks like daylight. and i can give you real photoshop. remind me later.
05.20.2008.13.48IMGP8619.JPG
LAUX: the sky looks wicked but it is so f-ing blurry MINX: and those lights are annoying
stl5.jpg
Laux's redo
St. Louis Avenue
where we went.
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i really appreciate that comment, and i'm sure minxy does too.
wh-what wait. that is night-time or light-time?
also: we can assume 2300 st. lou-ee is known as the house of fleurdelis? maison of win? something like that?
the blurriness just makes all the pictures look even more ghostly. which=better.
my favorites are Jone's House of Shining Stars, and the one of the Italianate architecture.
mmmmm there is something about the hollow shells that speaks to me...
this is reminiscent of a mid-to-late-90's adventure/horror game, like shivers II or even phantasmagoria.
You know, I wouldn't have thought to put it like that - but it totally is.
Only instead of one haunted house, there are thirty-six.
i thought all these houses kinda looked like the beetlejuice set where he lives....
i love how this was written
and that it made me miss home.
oh oh oh and .. it kind of taught me some stuff i MAY have not known.
maybe.
There seems to be no end to the treasures that hide in SF0. Awesome completion. Sorry it took me until now to discover it.
sigh
makes my soul miss st louis