I have a simple but timely idea to examine Michigan's economy through "Garage Sale Culture." Currently there's a boom in garage sales in Michigan, a percent of which can be attributed to people unloading goods to make ends meet. Sellers are also seeing the opportunity to move items in an economy that is reluctant to pay retail prices. There are moving sales as the result of job loss or mortgage foreclosures. Folks are selling luxury items (boats, trucks, etc.) because of soaring gas prices. These are the people I want to meet.

I'm envisioning the heart of the work to be portraiture—images that are in the moment but deliberate, that incorporate the goods being sold, or show the yard sale in progress. I'm not necessarily looking for impoverished, tug-at-your-heartstrings images, but more of common people facing unusual choices. The idea is to create a series of faces that represent the stories we hear on the local news every night, and perhaps marks the state of our State during the summer of this election year.

Please contact me at david@humanfiles.com if you have a story that fits this project. I will post work on my site here as this develops. Your help is greatly appreciated!