East Town Theatre, 2011

Philip Jarmain grew up near London, Ontario, with part of his childhood spent in Switzerland and Ireland. There were also many family trips to Mexico. His mother is a textile artist and fathers an entrepreneur. A childhood love of storytelling led to early fascination with film, photography and cameras. dShort dramas shot with an 8 mm wind-up camera were a passion. Later, his training was in film (Vancouver Film School), and for some years he worked in lighting for feature films and episodic television, and after that as stills photographer for film.

While establishing himself as a full time artist in photography, Jarmain supports himself as a commercial photographer specializing in conceptual advertising, based in Vancouver, where he lives, and Toronto. In this area he is a recipient of multiple Lürzers Archive and Communication Arts awards as well as other international honors.

Detroit’s Eastown Theatre is arguably one of the most elaborate neighborhood movie palaces constructed within the city. The neo-renaissance styled building was designed before the great depression but still managed to come out as opulent as it was intended, opening in 1931. V.J. Waier designed the large complex, containing not only the theatre but retail storefronts, a ballroom and apartments. These functions were consolidated in the yellow-brick building that took up most of the block, with terra cotta details of comedy and tragedy masks, and William Shakespeare’s head providing interest to those on Harper Avenue. Originally intended for movies, the 2,500 seat theatre also contained a stage, which proved beneficial in the late 1980s when the building was a performing arts center before closing for good. Movies ran continuously at the theatre until 1969, when it became a rock venue, hosting not only local artists but national artists. Alice Cooper in particular enjoyed the venue and first donned his top hat here. The venue closed in 1973 after rampant drug dealing and drug using. A jazz club was attempted a year later, but it only lasted a year before being shut down. After sporadic use in the 1980s as an adult movie venue and later the Detroit Center for the Performing Arts, funding dried up and the theatre closed. Except for some occasional raves in the 90s, the theatre was never used and maintenance suffered. A church group that had owned the entire building since the early 21st century had the entire complex listed at the hefty sum of $2 million. By 2009, the church group had all but abandoned the property after a fire broke out in the occupied apartments. Soon the well-sealed theatre was open to scrappers, vandals, and thieves. In addition to the metal of the railings and wiring, the original light fixtures and chandeliers were quickly gone. A year later, two massive multiple-alarm fires completely reduced the apartments to rubble, while the theatre and ballroom were untouched thanks to a well placed firewall. Beginning in 2014, scrappers have begun to use welding torches to completely cut through roof beams in the theatre, causing the entire ceiling to collapse and water to come in, spelling out a guaranteed fate for the building.