Justin Milhouse is photographer behind 9-foot portraits inside Michigan Central Station

When Justin Milhouse captures the world through the collection of cameras and video equipment housed at his photography studio in Detroit’s historic Woodbridge neighborhood, there is a very particular kind of energy that he is always seeking, regardless of the assignment. 

For Milhouse, the dynamic type of energy that drives him can be boiled down to three words.  

“Fresh. Cool. Dope. I define that as people being unapologetically themselves in everything they do,” the 35-year-old native Detroiter said. “I look for that quality all the time. When it’s present, people are having a great time and those are the stories I like to capture. I think the root of all photography is telling a story.”

This past spring, Milhouse was able to apply his approach to photography and his love for storytelling to a project that has helped to celebrate the reopening of Michigan Central Station.

“It’s a visual-audio experience with 9-foot-tall photos,” said Milhouse, who, on Thursday afternoon, spoke from his photography studio and still sounded genuinely in awe of the project’s sheer size and magnitude on multiple levels. “Everyone in the gallery has some type of strong tie to Michigan Central and you also can hear their stories in their own words. So, I hope people will continue to come out on Fridays and Saturdays to see and hear the stories themselves.”  

Milhouse said that before he could begin thinking about taking a single photo of any of the subjects he had to first put his listening skills to work. And from there, he was guided by what his ears and other senses absorbed. 

“I would talk to each person highlighted in the exhibit, but most of all I would listen as they shared how their lives and families were connected to the train station,” Milhouse said just before describing the tears of joy he witnessed from an exhibit subject he will never forget: Kitty Heinzman, who was 16 when she arrived at Michigan Central from Ireland in 1958. “I wanted to capture each person’s true essence, so I needed them to be as comfortable and as authentic as they could be. With Kitty, she remembered the train station being majestic, and then she remembered it being a mess, and she thought this day would never come and it showed in her reaction. Each person was describing something that was very real for them. But in the end, when they would say, ‘Oh, that’s it,’ I knew that was the level of comfort that I was shooting for.” 

On the afternoons of June 25 and June 27, Milhouse also profusely praised project producer Sara Ketchum. As Milhouse tells it, Ketchum’s endorsement helped to make the opportunity possible for him, and then she provided him valuable background information on all the exhibit subjects before Milhouse met each person.   

“This was not the type of project where you say 'Let’s get these people in here and take their pictures so we can have an exhibit,' ” said Milhouse, who first began thinking of himself as a storyteller when he began a photo blog, “Fresh Cool Dope,” while studying business at Alabama A&M University more than a decade ago. “We wanted it to be an experience for all of the exhibit subjects and it took a team effort to do that.” 

After an intense two-month period that started during April and lasted until just before the beginning of the Michigan Central Station reopening festivities in Corktown on June 6, Milhouse was able to point to portraits he had taken that are now displayed in a gallery that make up the "Faces of Michigan Central" exhibit. The exhibit showcases what the presenters call “just a small handful” of the millions of people that have been touched by Michigan Central Station’s past and present, including the extensive six-year completed renovation by Ford Motor Co. 

As it turns out, Milhouse has a history of connecting with “teams” in Detroit, even teams of the professional basketball variety like the Detroit Pistons. An introduction in 2018 to Sabrina Galloway, the wife of former Pistons guard Langston Galloway, led to Milhouse taking pictures for the Galloways at games, in the community and at their home. And after the Galloways passed on a good word, Milhouse was sought out to take photos for other members of the Pistons organization, including former two-time NBA All-Star Andre Drummond and former Pistons head coach Dwane Casey.

“People come and go from professional sports teams, but the photos tell a story that lives on through everyone that sees them,” said Milhouse, who in 2021 was one of three creatives sponsored by the Pistons to capture Detroit’s culture through the lens of a Canon camera purchased by the team. “I have seen how players have taken care of their families and how the team, players and their families have cared about the community. The Galloways loved Detroit and I took pictures at events for programs done by Sabrina and Langston. After they left the Pistons, they even flew me down to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to photograph a foundation event that Langston was doing there. So, my camera and the Galloways opened up a lane for me to see more of the good things that people with the team have done for people in Detroit and other places.”   

When Milhouse told his story about the relationship he established with people in the Pistons organization, for people that know Milhouse well, he evoked memories of his late grandfather, Don Robinson (June 2, 1932-Jan. 6, 2022). Robinson, Detroit’s first Black fire marshal, combined his fire marshal duties with his love of photography, sports and Detroit people. Robinson often was present at Pistons home games during the mid-1970s, and he would take photos of the action during a time when the Pistons had homegrown talent from Detroit high schools like Kettering High products Eric Money and Lindsay Hairston, playing alongside future Hall of Famers Dave Bing and Bob Lanier, and a legendary super fan — Leon “The Barber” Bradley. And it is Don Robinson, who still inspires Milhouse’s work today. 

“My granddad showed me pictures that he took at games at Cobo Arena and I can imagine the excitement he felt being able to instantly record history,” Milhouse said. “But, along with recording the history, my granddad always wanted to show Detroit in a positive light, and I adopted that philosophy from him — that Detroit pride. And that’s why I know he would be proud of the exhibit at Michigan Central Station, because I’m doing something with photography and the arts and I’m doing something to show Detroit in a good light. My granddad always said, ‘live your bliss,’ and with this project he would say that I listened to him.”

Summer at The Station

What: Invitation for visitors to take self-guided tours of the revitalized Michigan Central Station (2001 15th Street in Corktown) ground floor, which includes the Faces of Michigan Central exhibit. Tickets are not needed.

When: 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays through August 31.

Learn more: For additional information, including a complete of all of the exhibits, entertainment, art and more available during Summer at The Station, please visit michigancentral.com

Scott Talley is a native Detroiter, a proud product of Detroit Public Schools and a lifelong lover of Detroit culture in its diverse forms. In his second tour with the Free Press, which he grew up reading as a child, he is excited and humbled to cover the city’s neighborhoods and the many interesting people who define its various communities. Contact him at stalley@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @STalleyfreep. Read more of Scott's stories at www.freep.com/mosaic/detroit-is/. Please help us grow great community-focused journalism by becoming a subscriber.