A city in limbo

Flint, Michigan - January 15, 2016: (Brittany Greeson/The New York Times)

Kaden Parks, 8, peers out the window of his familyÕs car while picking up bottled water from a free distribution site at the Greater Holy Temple Church Of God in Flint on December 20, 2018. Parks and his family are among many Flint residents who are forced to wait hours in free distribution lines as the price of bottled water remains a significant barrier. Due to finite supplies, families are limited to just several cases per visit, often a fraction of their weekly use. Photo by Brittany Greeson.

Josette Malone, 41, and Derrick Webster, 44, stand outside waiting for a ride from a friend after picking up cases of bottled water from the Berston Field-House in Flint on April 22, 2018. Following the closure of the state run water distribution sites, community centers and churches stepped in to help the few residents that were able to find transit to a a very limited amount of water donations. Photo by Brittany Greeson.

Earlene Love, 64, prays alongside her peers as protestors gather outside the Romney building, which houses the office of Governor Rick Snyder, in Lansing, Mich., on January 14, 2016. Earlier protestors had filled the front entrance of the building, conflicting with officers who said they would not be permitted inside. Throughout the city's water crisis, many residents have viewed Snyder as a distant leader whose priorities were never on Flint's well being. Photo by Brittany Greeson.

ECHOES/Photo by Brittany Greeson.

Water flows over a man-made water fall in the Flint River in downtown Flint on December 21, 2018. In April of 2014, the City of Flint switched its water source from Lake Huron to the river citing a potential savings of around $5 million over the course of two years. In 2015, Dr. Marc Edwards of Virginia Tech University told the Detroit Free Press that his research showed Òthe Flint River water, without additional controls, corrodes lead inside pipes at 19 times the rate of water piped from Detroit.Ó Months following that interview, Dr. Mona-Hanna Attisha would release her findings that childrenÕs blood lead levels had doubled in the Flint community. Photo by Brittany Greeson.

About the Project

The Flint water crisis was a human-made public health crisis that started in 2014, after the city switched its water supply which led to widespread contamination. The impact of this crisis was felt heavily across the city of Flint, and revealed gaps in the local government’s response to environmental justice, access to healthcare, and systemic racism, in particular in low-income communities. Documentary photographer Brittany Greeson began closely documenting Flint’s water crisis in 2015 as an intern at the local paper The Flint Journal and has maintained a close engagement with this story ever since. This exhibit was launched in 2021 and still today this crisis is still not resolved as Flint is still facing an ongoing public health crisis and lasting impacts due to the water contamination.

Unfortunately, water crises are impacting places across the country, like recently in Jackson, Mississippi. Access to clean water is a human right, yet far too often communities, especially low-income areas, are being denied this right. A City in Limbo highlights the experiences of Flint residents and aims to inspire change, consider bringing this exhibit to your space to continue the conversation about the right to clean water and to raise awareness of the communities being impacted.

about the artist

Brittany Greeson is a Detroit, Michigan based documentary photographer. She was the 2020/2021 ART WORKS Projects Emerging Lens Fellow.

digital exhibition

ART WORKS Projects presents City in Limbo, a virtual essay by Brittany Greeson, launched on February 4, 2021.

artist discussion

On February 11, 2021, Brittany Greeson and Claudia Perkins-Milton, Flint Community Organizer, came together virtually to talk about A City in Limbo.

A conversation with Brittany Greeson and Claudia Perkins-Milton (1 hour video)

Emerging Lens Project

A City in Limbo was completed with support from the Emerging Lens fellowship.

Emerging Lens is ART WORKS Projects’ signature program that awards project support, unrestricted grants, and mentorship to emerging photographers working to document social justice and human rights issues in their own backyards and around the world.