BRIAN KELLY PHOTOGRAPHY & FILM

I spent most of the day on Thursday at The Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries (DRMM). I didn’t actually take many portraits. My assistant Josh and I toured 4 shelter facilities in various areas of the city and met many people with successful stories of recovery from homelessness, lives of abuse, addiction or crime. One man we met that successfully turned his life around and is now a facilities manager for one of the larger DRMM buildings, said that DRMM assists in the “reconstruction of men, women and families.” 

I really like that word “reconstruction”…it’s a perfect metaphor for what’s happening at DRMM and in Detroit.

One of those men is Mickey, and the first portrait I wanted to share with you from my Kickstarter project. Mickey’s recovered from addiction and homelessness and is now employed directly by DRMM at one of their larger shelters. He’s a talented cook, and over time, gradually gained more responsibility at the mission and is now the Food Service Supervisor . Mickey’s now responsible for managing a small and modest kitchen that somehow cranks out roughly 800 meals a day. Mickey’s lived in Detroit for 13 years. He loves the city and said “I can’t imagine my life anywhere else.”

DRMM is an inspiring, if not overwhelming, place to visit. It’s an organization battling on the front lines of Detroit’s economic collapse and addresses the collateral damage that has occurred in the lives of many Detroiters that have found themselves for a variety of reasons off the rails and off the grid. DRMM has been incredibly successful in transforming lives and giving their clients the technical skills and training to become employable and highly productive.

Much more in the coming days and weeks…thank you again for this amazing opportunity!

Brian

PS - Here’s a link to more Detroit Portraits in the “Personal Projects” gallery of my website. There is also caption information about each person there. Just click the “caption” button underneath the photo.

  1. kickstarter reblogged this from briankellyphoto and added:
    We love this. Amazing story; beautiful photography. Congrats...we’re happy you’re still...
  2. iamjessieowens said: every year for the last 4 years my church has gone here for a week in the summer. DRMM is amazing and what they’re doing is inspiring! Thanks for posting this <3
  3. briankellyphoto posted this