All About Photo Presents Dave Jordano’s When I Arrived: Rediscovered Photographs of Detroit

All About Photo is pleased to present When I Arrived, a solo exhibition by Detroit photographer Dave Jordano, throughout October 2026.

The exhibition brings together a remarkable series of photographs made more than 50 years ago, when Jordano was just 24 years old and studying photography at the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit.

In early 1972, Jordano began photographing the city and its surroundings with a 35mm camera. For approximately one year, he photographed streets, neighborhoods, people, and the small, unexpected moments he encountered along the way.

At the time, he could not have known that most of these photographs would remain unseen for decades.

A Photographic Archive Hidden for More Than 40 Years

After completing the work, Jordano stored the negatives away. They remained there for more than forty years until he rediscovered them in 2013.

Going back through the negatives, he was surprised by what he found: a substantial body of photographs that already revealed a strong and distinctive photographic eye.

The images demonstrate a natural understanding of black and white photography, composition, timing, and the decisive moment. Jordano was able to recognize the extraordinary within ordinary situations, capturing fleeting gestures, chance encounters, and unexpected relationships between people and their surroundings.

What is particularly striking is that these photographs were made by a young photographer who was still developing his practice. Yet there is a remarkable maturity in the way he observed the world around him.

Detroit Through a Young Photographer’s Eyes

When I Arrived offers a glimpse into Detroit in the early 1970s, but the photographs are more than historical documents.

They show a young photographer discovering how he wanted to look at the world.

There are streets, buildings, people, and everyday situations, but Jordano's photographs are never simply descriptive. His attention to gesture, light, shadow, composition, and timing gives even seemingly ordinary scenes a strong visual presence.

Seen more than five decades after they were made, the photographs also take on another meaning. They document a city and a particular moment in American history while simultaneously revealing the beginnings of a photographic career.

The fact that the work was hidden away for so long makes the exhibition even more compelling. These are not photographs that were carefully selected and presented immediately after they were made. They were rediscovered decades later, allowing us to encounter them with the distance of time.

Rediscovering a Photographic Voice

Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of When I Arrived is seeing how clearly Jordano's photographic instincts were already present at such a young age.

The photographs reveal an instinctive ability to anticipate moments, find strong compositions, and transform everyday encounters into memorable images.

What began as a young photographer's exploration of Detroit became, many years later, an important rediscovery of his own photographic history.

When I Arrived is therefore both an intimate portrait of Detroit and a story about the unexpected life that photographs can have. Negatives can sit forgotten for decades, waiting for someone to look at them again. And sometimes, when they finally resurface, they reveal a body of work that feels as relevant and alive as it did when it was first created.

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

View the complete Solo Exhibition on All About Photo