Dave Jordano’s Rediscovered Photographs Reveal A Young Photographer’s Eye For Detroit

In 1972, 24-year-old photographer Dave Jordano began photographing Detroit and its surroundings with a 35mm camera. At the time, he was studying photography at the Center for Creative Studies and simply documenting the city around him: its streets, neighborhoods, people, gestures, and unexpected everyday moments.

He had no idea that most of those photographs would remain unseen for more than four decades.

Now, Dave Jordano’s early work is being presented in When I Arrived, the October 2026 Solo Exhibition by All About Photo.

Over the course of approximately one year, Jordano photographed whatever caught his attention. The resulting images are intimate observations of Detroit in the early 1970s, filled with fleeting encounters, expressive gestures, strong compositions, and carefully observed relationships between people and their surroundings.

Then the negatives disappeared into storage.

It was not until 2013 that Jordano rediscovered them. Going back through the photographs after more than 40 years, he was surprised by the strength and consistency of the work he had made as a young photographer.

Looking at the photographs today, it is striking how assured they already feel. Jordano demonstrates a natural understanding of black and white photography, composition, timing, and what Henri Cartier-Bresson famously called the “decisive moment.” A passing gesture, a figure caught at exactly the right instant, or an unexpected relationship between a person and the surrounding architecture can transform an ordinary scene into something memorable.

What makes When I Arrived particularly fascinating is the contrast between the age of the photographer and the maturity of the photographs. These were made by someone still developing his photographic practice, yet they reveal a remarkably developed way of looking.

The exhibition is more than a portrait of Detroit in the early 1970s. It is also the story of a photographic archive rediscovered decades after it was created—and of a young photographer who, perhaps without realizing it at the time, was already finding his own visual voice.

Seen today, these photographs occupy several worlds at once: they are historical documents, personal observations, and beautifully observed moments from a city and a time that have long since changed.

Dave Jordano’s When I Arrived is presented by All About Photo throughout October 2026.

More info: all-about-photo.com

Coffee Break, Bad Axe, Michigan 1972 © Dave Jordano

Bi-Racial Couple, Detroit, Michigan 1972 © Dave Jordano

Baby in Car, Detroit, Michigan 1973 © Dave Jordano

Heavy Man in Carnaval Sideshow Booth, Detroit, Michigan 1972 © Dave Jordano

Little Girl with Purse, Sterling Heights, Michigan 1973 © Dave Jordano

Two Guys on the Waterfront, Detroit, Michigan 1972 © Dave Jordano

Man Sitting Alone During Annual Ethnic Festival, Detroit, Michigan 1972 © Dave Jordano

Six Men on the Waterfront, Detroit, Michigan 1972 © Dave Jordano

Maad Dogs MC Members, Detroit, Michigan 1972 © Dave Jordano

Woman at Hot Rod Show, Detroit, Michigan 1972 © Dave Jordano

Young Boy Playing with Toy, Detroit, Michigan 1972 © Dave Jordano

Follow us on Flipboard.com/@boredpanda!