While abandoned places can be very interesting from a historical perspective because they provide a roadmap to what once was, a shut-down GM assembly plant nowadays represents much more-lost jobs, a faltering industry, a crumbling U.S. manufacturing base, and a bad economy. Then there's the ripple effect that the layoffs and loss of business has on the community.
When I arrived in Dayton, Ohio, this past August for the Trans Am Nats, I knew full well that one of my main objectives was to photograph the Kevin Morgan Concept T/A for a feature and the cover of this issue. The car was to be debuted at the event, and it was very important to me that I find an interesting place to photograph it.
Since the T/A Nats was forced to change venue after 24 years at the Dayton Airport Inn, which was soon to become a parking lot (more progress in the making, eh?), the event found a new home on the other side of the city at the Marriot hotel. This opened up new possibilities for photographic backgrounds.
While searching for the right place, I discovered the dormant GM Moraine assembly plant. This is where the automaker and dedicated employees used to build the Chevy Trailblazer, GMC Envoy, Buick Rainier, and Saab 9-7X. It had only been closed for eight months, but it looked like it had been shut down for years, as the weeds and shrubs wasted no time in reclaiming the vast and vacant parking lot.
It was on June 3, 2008, that then-GM CEO Rick Wagoner announced the closing of the Moraine assembly plant. On December 23, 2008, the inevitable came to be. The plight of the plant and its employees was even made into an HBO documentary, "The Last Truck." I haven't seen it yet-I don't have HBO.
While driving around the facility searching for someone who could give permission for the photo shoot, I was taken aback by the sheer enormity of the plant. It goes on for blocks and has direct railroad access for loading vehicles for delivery.
The photo of the sign in this editorial was taken as I was looking for a place to shoot on the plant grounds. It touches upon one of the many challenges facing the American auto industry. Now only Canadian geese are there to see it.
As you can see in the photos in "Phoenix Rising ... Again," we did find a pretty cool place to shoot-a plant entrance replete with assigned parking spaces. The irony of photographing a Trans Am that GM didn't build at a GM plant was too much to ignore. However, this wasn't done in an effort to throw stones at GM or to disrespect any of the workers who have toiled at the facility over the years.
GM security saw our intentions were good, as an officer arrived at our shoot five minutes after we set up. He explained that he had seen me driving around the plant that day, but I hadn't come in far enough to get to his office. He asked what we were doing, and I explained the whole story. He spoke to his supervisor, who said it was okay, as long as no one was drinking.
We set up the cars and got to work. I say "cars" because we also had contributor Melvin Benzaquen's brand-new Camaro SS on hand. I had asked if we could use it in the shoot to make it easier for readers to directly compare the appearance of the two cars-at the same location and under the same lighting conditions. He agreed, and I thank him for the favor.
The sight of the Camaro and the Trans Am posed for photos in front of a GM plant at sunset was seemingly more than the general public could bear. The area in which we were shooting was adjacent to a four-lane road and traffic came to a standstill. People were literally stopping in the middle of the road to ask questions and take pictures.
Within a few minutes, the Moraine police arrived. I explained what we were doing, and the officer was fine with it. In fact, he decided to block off a lane for us to make things safer for the duration of the shoot.