Exploring Detroit’s East Side with a Local Photographer
Photographer Elonte Davis, who grew up in Detroit’s Osborn neighborhood, shares a guide to the East Side that encourages visitors to wander and notice everyday life. His recommendations include Coney Island diners, soul food restaurants, cocktail bars, Belle Isle Park, and live music spots. The guide focuses on overlooked people and places across the city.
Elonte Davis is an award-winning Detroit photographer raised in Osborn, on the East Side. He began carrying a camera about a decade ago after photographing a decisive neighborhood football play. His work centers Black Detroit and has earned a 2025 Kresge Visual Arts Fellowship. He has exhibited locally and internationally and has ties to the Charles H. Wright Museum and Detroit Institute of Arts.
His East Side suggestions include Coney Island breakfasts, soul food, corned beef sandwiches, cocktails, blues venues, and Belle Isle. The nearly 1,000-acre Detroit River park offers skyline and Canadian views; its 1908 casino reopened in March 2026 after a $7.3 million restoration. Summer brings techno fans, Grand Prix spectators, and Concert of Colors audiences.
This guide may steer some visitors beyond downtown, spreading spending to East Side eateries, bars, and music spots. That could support small businesses and local artists, while giving residents a chance to shape how their neighborhoods are seen. It may also encourage travelers to treat ordinary streets and daily life as worthy of attention, though increased interest could bring pressures such as crowding or rising costs. Its impact likely depends on whether visitors engage respectfully and