(2788) Poverty Scenes, Michigan Ave., Detroit, 1950s

Portrait of a man sitting in front of glass storefront with a dog on lap, Detroit, Michigan.

From the back of the photograph: “This man was a familiar figure for years in Downtown Detroit. His last name was Shaefer. He would sit on the corner of Michigan and Griswold with his dog and just smile or would talk to people as they passed by. I gave him a print of this photo. In the mid-1970s he disappeared and was never seen again.” - Tony Spina

NOTE: Part of an expose series of Detroit’s “Skid Row” along Michigan between Washington Blvd. and Fifth Street. Spina spent ten days living on the row to document the way people lived. (2788).