Best Detroit Photographers To Follow On Instagram

Since the recession, Detroit has slowly been surging back to become one of the country's leading creative meccas for young entrepreneurs, intellectuals and artists. Many of those artists do their work behind a lens, taking photos of the Motor City in a new light and with a flair that escapes many of us. These days, though, you don't need to be best friends with these photographers, or seek them out in print, because Instagram has the best that Detroit has to offer in these accounts. Here are some of the best Motown shutterbugs on Instagram that you should check out now.

Faisal Ali
instagram.com/faisal__ali

If it's interesting and happening at the world famous Lafayette Coney Island in downtown Detroit, dedicated coney server Faisal will get a picture of it. Everything from horse cops trying to enter the 100-year-old restaurant (while still on horseback), to the behind-the-scenes of the making of everyone's favorite Detroit food -- the coney dog -- Faisal has it covered. Never boring, the account comes from a man who can balance over twenty coney dogs on one arm (and has the photos to prove it) and has become a Motor City staple in the process.

Masonic Temple Detroit
instagram.com/masonictempledetroit

For a perfect blend of the old and the new in Detroit entertainment, there's the Instagram account of the Masonic Temple. The largest building of its kind in the world, the Masonic Temple is home to one of Detroit's most well-loved music venues, wedding halls and all things associated with major gatherings within the city. The building itself, a stunning temple of architecture, is strikingly beautiful, and this Instagram account shows it all off in rich detail with a flair for historic preservation and nuggets of lost wisdom.

Tony Detroit
instagram.com/tonydetroit

If there's one major controversial subject in Detroit photography, it's "ruin porn." For decades now, amateur and professional photographers have been taking photos across the wide expanse of the Motor City of its most derelict and run down areas, including abandoned homes, buildings, and empty, broken structures, and most people either love it as a symbol of desolate beauty, or loathe it as a grim reminder of a long, slow spiral for the city. Photographer Tony Detroit is considered one of the best in the business on Instagram for his shots, and despite the sad and painful memories of a lost Detroit that his photos invoke, there's no doubt that so many of them are still hauntingly beautiful.

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Detroit Graffiti + Street Art
instagram.com/piecesofdetroit

If it's the world-famous street art of Detroit that has you interested in perusing Instagram, then the account Pieces of Detroit has some of the top photos of the city's best, from the well-hidden, to the internationally-recognized pieces of art that can crop up anywhere. Some of the planet's most famous street artists have spent time tagging the city. From the likes of Banksy and Shepard Fairey, to the lowliest unknown artist with a can of paint, Pieces of Detroit captures them all, and in such a way to make it eye-catching to even those who normally wouldn't take a second look at street art, too.

Detroit Institute Of Arts
instagram.com/diadetroit

One of the country's top museums, and the crown jewel of the Detroit art scene, the Detroit Institute of Art is one of the oldest and most well-respected museums in America. With more than 60,000 pieces of art in its halls, the DIA Instagram account makes good use of them all, as well as photographing the more interesting aspects of their special guests, visitors, speakers, exhibits, grounds and so much more! If you find art lacking in your life and you love the city of Detroit, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better account to follow than the best of the professional art and curiosities at the Detroit Institute of Art.

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Michael Ferro is freelance writer and a graduate of Michigan State University where he majored in Creative Writing and received the Jim Cash Creative Writing Award. Born and bred in Detroit, he currently resides in Ypsilanti Township. Additional writing can be found at Examiner.com.