Interview with Josh Lipnik of Midwest Modern
A Jamdraper exclusive interview with my favorite account on the internet.
Several years ago, I stumbled on a Twitter account called Midwest Modern. No context was needed; the account, run by Josh Lipnik, has regularly posted photos of Midwestern architecture and streetscapes ever since. Or, put in broader terms by the Midwest Modern print store website, “Documenting the built environment of cities and towns across the Midwest.”
The account posts everything from row homes in downtown Toronto to art deco storefronts in Chicago to midcentury villas in Detroit suburbs to old railroad stations in Indiana.In the past, Lipnik would post a healthy mix of owned content and content from around the internet, but as his account’s grown (to over 100,000 followers), most of the photography seems to be original. Over the past couple years, Lipnik has begun to share old relics of midwestern lore in addition to his own photography, like this 1960s advertisement for a concrete company in Des Moines, Iowa, or etchings by a Minnesota artist.
Before writing this, I thought hard about what makes this account so great. Surely I’m biased, as a proud child of the Midwest, but that can’t be all. I assume some of the 100,000 followers of Midwest Modern are similarly nostalgia-driven, but some must also be intrigued by the architectural side of the account, which displays the rich texture of different building styles across an area of the country which bloomed during the industrial revolution, an era that saw structures as monuments to American culture ceaselessly springing up in even the smallest pockets of the region. Also, the photography is quality— Lipnik sells prints, after all— capturing a most idyllic take on the mundanity of that comforting Midwestern feeling.
Ultimately, though, I think this account gets at something that permeates the core of people— Midwesterners and art lovers alike. It’s an exercise in world-building like a well-designed movie set. When I look at posts from Midwest Modern I think of the the old rolling hills on the banks of the Ohio River conjured in Omensetter’s Luck, or the soft film grain of Michigan’s old money neighborhoods in The Virgin Suicides. There is living, breathing history in every photo posted, even the most innocuous ones. But that’s just what the Midwest feels like in real life, too: layers of context and rich history viscerally felt if not actually seen: handsome maroon brick structures that once housed transit companies or public service organizations circled by mangled fences beneath a cloudless azure sky, or faded orange and red and blue and pink neon signs which no longer illuminate the night but pierce the tableau of daytime streetscapes, still advertising watch repair or antique goods, hanging off old federal style row homes long since converted into a small town’s only commercial strip. Main Street USA. You can smell the old leather from voluminous textbooks upon seeing a picture of an old and imposing city library, or the aroma of worms in early spring rain after a photo of a lonesome wood-paneled barn decaying in a desolate cornfield appears across your news feed.
I decided I had to know how this account came about and get an inside look on its popularity and origins from the creator himself, Metro Detroit native Josh Lipnik. Check it out below.
I discovered your account a couple years ago. How did it come to be?
This was sort of something that I always was interested in. I mean, I went to school for architecture, but even in high school from the time I could drive and start exploring Detroit, I was always interested in architecture and cities, and just exploring places. It was always something I did— I just never really thought of it as anything more than a hobby— but at some point I started sharing photos on Twitter and had a little architecture community that was interested in it. So, I started to take it a little more seriously and posting stuff more regularly with some type of format, and it just snowballed from there. I feel like it’s gotten so much bigger over the last few years.
Do you work in architecture? You mentioned you went to school for it.
I’m actually a landscape designer in my regular job, so there is somewhat of a connection there, but I try to keep it separate. I don’t talk about it much on Twitter or anything, but yeah, I mean, I mean I am sort of in the world of design and construction to some degree. I don’t know how much it informs what I do, but I’m always in that world and it has given me opportunities. I’ve worked for some people that have interesting houses, and made connections that way, but I see it as a separate thing.
Yeah, I work in marketing, so I feel you. Kind of the same, but not really the same as your passions. Anyway, I was just looking over your Twitter page while writing this piece, and I noticed you have over 100,000 followers. That’s crazy. Did you expect Midwest Modern to ever get this big and when did it snowball? I have noticed people that aren’t even from the Midwest following you.
I don’t know that there was necessarily a single point where it started to grow and more people started to find out about it. I didn’t expect it to get this big, I mean I kind of thought, with architecture and the Midwest, like these are more niche interests and I thought maybe it’d be popular with a small group of people that were into that. Once I started realizing that it was getting a little more popular, I broadened it a bit so it wasn’t specifically focused on architects and well-known people from the region and famous buildings, and started to just look at cities in general. Everything from neon signs to post offices to regular, everyday things that everyone sees but doesn’t think about deeply.
What I like about the account is how different it is from other Midwestern architecture posts. Like, sure, the area has great architecture, but it’s usually presented by urban explorers as ruin porn, which I understand but don’t love. I feel like your account brings to life the experience of living in the Midwest. What was your goal when you started the account? Has it changed as the account has grown at all?
When I was first starting to learn more about Detroit and hang out there, that stuff was huge. I don’t know if you want to call it a trend, but the ruin porn stuff was everywhere. Like around 2010, there were all these books of urban exploring and all that stuff, and, I mean, that’s cool, but it’s not really something I was ever into. I think it’s because I came at it from the point of view of someone who studied architecture. I was always more interested in the buildings themselves than the state of decay, so I think that kept me from leaning into that part of it, which is easy to do when you’re based in Detroit.
I also think that the style [of ruin porn] is heavily edited and stylized and those are not the type of photographs I take. I try to keep things pretty deadpan and not sensationalize it, I guess. That’s not how I see things, so I think that comes through, I hope.
Speaking of which, did you go to school for photography? Your pictures, while obviously simple, are simple and perfect. Nice framing, and very identifiable when it comes across my timeline.
I didn’t study photography in any real way. I suppose I consider myself a photographer, but I’m not someone that could talk camera gear or anything like that. I think coming from an architecture background, again, was a different, big influence on that because when you’re photographing buildings for a project in architecture school you want to have all the detail and really see things for what they are. I think that’s a big part of where that evolution as a photographer comes from.
You mentioned that a big part of your formative experience was driving around Detroit and seeing a lot of great architecture. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Did the architecture you saw in Detroit spark an interest for you, or did your architectural interest inform your enjoyment of Detroit’s beautiful designs?
It’s hard to say exactly which came first, because I definitely had an interest in architecture as a kid, and from a pretty young age I had relatives buying me books about Frank Lloyd Wright and stuff like that, so that was something I always knew about and was interested in. But, I think actually going out and seeing things in person for yourself is a bigger step to getting into architecture.
How do you foresee the future of the account, and its evolution?
That’s a good question. I do feel a little bit like I fenced myself in with the Midwest thing. For instance, recently I was in Canada and I’ve been sharing some photos from Hamilton, Ontario. And, like, I have a lot of people asking, “Is this the Midwest?” So I’ve been pushing more against the outer borders of what is considered the Midwest. I’m not a real stickler for that type of thing, like what counts as this or that.
But, yeah, now that I have done a lot of places in the core of the Midwest and with COVID restrictions not as serious as they once were, traveling is a bit easier. I would like to go to some places that are just totally outside, like, you know, Arizona or Florida or something like that. As much as I love exploring all the cities in the Midwest, I think I did fence myself in a little bit with that, which I don’t think is a huge deal. I don’t think people complain much, because it’s just a free feed on Twitter. It’s not like I’m held to a super high standard.
But I’m not 100% sure about where it’s going in the future. I started doing more public speaking about the stuff I do and starting to compile what I do on Twitter, more condensed, like a presentation. That’s something I’m trying to do more. Also, I’m hoping to put out a book at some point in the next year or so— that’s something I’ve been working on. Hopefully, in the near future, we’ll have something to announce with that.
Well, I was going to ask this later, and it’s not like you’re the arbiter of truth, but I gotta know: What are the borders of the Midwest to you?
I’ll just say, I think it’s different depending on where you live. Someone who grew up in Minnesota is going to have a much different idea of this than someone who grew up in Michigan or Ohio. But I think of it as everything from Ohio to the Dakotas and north of the Ohio River. So, like, St. Louis, Cincinnati, all the way up to Minneapolis and Cleveland in the other direction. And then the Rust Belt overlaps with that. In some ways, it’s really the Rust Belt I’m more interested in, just being from Detroit, which is such a big Rust Belt City. I take sort of a maximalist view of [the Midwest].
For what it’s worth, I do too. In my mind, there’s, like, two sub-regions of the Midwest: the Plains and the Great Lakes/Rust Belt area. That’s how I categorize it in my head. But you’ll talk to people from Iowa that will tell you Michigan isn’t in the Midwest. What is it, then?
[Laughs] You know, I haven’t really been to the Plains part of the Midwest all that much. It’s just recently that I went to some parts of southern Illinois and southern Indiana, and it’s definitely culturally and geographically different from the Rust Belt areas I’m used to. But there’s also overlap there.
Going back to your earlier point, I’m not even sure how to categorize Canada. Looking at your pictures from Hamilton, it was like, at least in terms of architectural culture, there’s a lineage you can see. Even if it’s different, it looks like a Midwestern city.
Definitely. Especially, being from Michigan, if you read back to its early architecture history, there were so many architects moving back and forth between Canada and Detroit and Lansing and Grand Rapids— all of these places. I don’t think the border was always as clear as it is now, where there’s this hard border between the Midwest and Canada.
What does Midwest Modern exploration look like? I see there will be a couple weeks where you’re in one place, then another. Do you just drive to these places and go around and find cool photo opportunities?
I do plan the trips out quite a bit, and have stuff mapped out that I want to see. I do a lot of research before from a lot of architectural sources. Stuff like the National Register of Historic Places is always a good source; I go in with a pretty good idea of certain things I want to see. But when you actually get to a city, sometimes that just falls through and you just ese something interesting and follow that thread. Or, maybe, you find a neighborhood that’s cool and just decide that you’re going to explore here. It’s really a mix of an itinerary that I go with and stuff that I just find walking, driving, or biking around.
What do you think makes Midwest Modern so well-loved? I have my own opinions, of course, but how do you see it? You’d know better than me.
Without trying to be too philosophical about it? I think it elevates common things to being special, in a way. And I think people relate to that, because I think that’s how people actually see the world around them, even if they don’t think about it. Even if you don’t think about that building you see every day, if you were to move away and see a picture of it, you’d be like, Oh, that place! There’s some connection there that you wouldn't think of until it’s put in front of you. So, that’s what I try to do. Of course, everyone has different reasons for why they like it, but that’s part of it. Wherever you’re from, it’s cool to see your city represented. Especially because I go to a lot of smaller towns that people may not know about or never get any attention, people think it’s cool seeing somewhere like Findlay, Ohio, or wherever it is they grew up.
Yeah, even me. I grew up in Detroit and I still love when you do the smaller towns. I think it’s my favorite content— I feel like it gets to the core of something, like a common thread in Midwestern art in general. William S. Burroughs’ works, or movies like The Straight Story, spectacularize the mundanities of living. Which, I’m probably your target demographic, but the coolest part of this thing is how your account has transcended regionality. I see people following you from across the globe.
I do have people following me from all around the world, so it’s interesting to me that someone in the UK, France, or Argentina would find something interesting about this. But I agree, I enjoy doing the smaller cities and towns as well. I think that people don’t think of them as cities, but they are— they’re just small cities. They have all the same things as a bigger city, just on a smaller scale. I like presenting it in that way. You know, like, the Main Street and the Downtown? Sometimes people think of downtown as, like, skyscrapers and all that. I think there is definitely something to those small towns that people really connect with, for whatever reason.
What are your favorite and least favorite destinations you’ve been for this project?
Of cities I’ve been to, Cincinnati was definitely up there. One of my favorites. I always love going to Chicago. I could spend 10 years there and not see a fraction of its architecture. Detroit, of course. I still love exploring Detroit, even though I’ve been doing it for 20 years.
I will say, I don’t have anything against Indiana, but the cities there are more sterile to me, in a way. They are a little less dynamic than some of the cities in Michigan and Ohio and Illinois that I’ve been to. I don’t know if there’s a specific city I can think of that I didn’t like, though. I can find something good or something to enjoy wherever I go. I can always find something good to eat and a few cool buildings to see. There’s definitely nowhere that I hate.
So, for these followers outside the Midwest, outside big cities like Detroit and Chicago, what would you recommend to a visitor? Like if someone comes to you from Argentina and says they’ve been inspired to visit some beautiful small towns in the Midwest.
College towns are always a good one, because— especially if there was an architecture school there— you can get some really interesting mid-century architecture. Ann Arbor has some interesting stuff. Champaign, Illinois. Bloomington, Indiana. All those Big Ten college towns have some really interesting architecture.
I also think those Ohio River towns are some of the most interesting. If someone was coming here from Europe or South America, I think doing a trip along the Ohio River would be good if you really want to see America.
One last thing— you mentioned you’re hoping to get a book at some point, have there been any other cool opportunities that have come about from having this account?
I started to get invited to do public speaking and getting paid for it, which is something I never planned on doing, or even thought I’d be good at. I feel like I’ve figured out how to do that pretty well, so that’s a big one. I don’t get offered anything all that cool, but people will offer to take me out to get a beer, or something. I’m not getting free stuff like Instagram influencers, or anything like that. I’ve gotten a few speaking opportunities and writing opportunities and met some cool people and made some connections. I’ve had a few people reach out for book deals in the past and I just wasn’t ready for it at the time. I felt like I needed to widen the scope of places I’ve traveled before wanting to do that. Now that I’ve been to a few more places, I think I’m ready to put something together.
Get Midwest Modern prints here.