Throughout his 37 years, the streets of Detroit’s east side have been Elonte Davis’ classroom.
His family, friends and community serve as his teachers, giving him life lessons on integrity and thoughtfulness to developing social skills.
“I learned a lot just talking to different people. I might be somewhere and I just start speaking to a stranger, and then they might hit me with a life lesson about finances, about the government, living with regret,” Davis told BridgeDetroit. “There’s stuff that we learn from different people that’s not even in the classroom.”
The artist has poured those experiences into his photography career, taking snapshots of ordinary Detroiters living their lives. That’s the basis of Davis’ newest exhibit, “Homeroom: Detroit Taught Me First.” The show on display at the LookOut Gallery at Michigan State University runs until Feb. 24.
Steve Baibak, a MSU academic specialist and the LookOut Gallery preparator, said about 50 people showed up to the opening reception earlier this month despite the snow and cold temperatures.
“We got a pretty good response,” he said. “We had some food and Elonte walked around the gallery, talking about the pieces and what they meant to him. And I was surprised a lot of folks came from Detroit, even with the really horrible weather. They were so excited to come and see Elonte’s work.”
Davis was part of MSU’s “Perspectives in African-American Experience: Emerging Visions.” The annual paid mini-residency in the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities designed for emerging and mid-career artists whose work reflects on Black, African-American or African diasporic experience in the past or present and explores art as social activism. In addition to an exhibit, the residency features artist talks, class visits, workshops and student and community engagement.
“Homeroom” is the latest in a string of opportunities for the emerging photographer in the last few years. Davis, who’s also known as “Slumdog Visionaire,” debuted his first solo exhibition in 2023 titled, “This is Where I’m At and This Is What I’m Doing,” at The Carr Center. Later that year, he followed that up with the display, “Love, Appreciation and Celebration” at the Liquor Basket Gratiot. Last year, Davis was part of the 2025 class for the Kresge Artist Fellowship and his photos are currently showing at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History and the Muskegon Museum of Art.
“It feels good, I can’t front,” Davis said about his recent accomplishments. “It feels amazing, it’s all the adjectives.”
Back in the classroom
Davis’ love for photography started by accident, he said. In 2016, while attending Michigan Technological University in Houghton, he picked up a camera for an assignment. He hasn’t put it down since.
Davis takes photos, “all day, everyday,” snapping 32,000 photos last year, he said. Rather than a photographer, he likes to call himself a “memory engineer,” someone that’s preserving the culture of Detroit.
“I’m building an archive of the Black family, the Black experience,” Davis said. “It feels like a responsibility now.”
Davis said the MSU exhibit started coming together in September when Baibak sent him a message on his website, asking Davis if he was interested in opening an exhibit.
“I’m like a math teacher, I love showing my work,” Davis said.
Baibak discovered Davis when going through the Kresge website, looking at the list of 2025 fellows, he said. For the last five years, MSU has built a relationship with Kresge Arts in Detroit to build participation in the Emerging Visions residency. Last year’s program featured works from Michigan natives Darryl D’Angelo Terrell and Samiya Bashir.
What stood out to Baibak about Davis was his exhibit at the Liquor Basket as well as giving visibility to his east side community.
“The people that were in his exhibit were the people that were also in his community,” he said. “I felt like if we’re going to talk about local and supporting local, nothing becomes more local than that. And we have a lot of students from Detroit and it’s been great watching Elonte interact with these students.”
When it came to selecting the photos that would appear in the exhibit, Davis sent more than 800 photos to Baibak since he takes photos “all day, everyday.” Earlier this month, the two met on Zoom, combing through Davis’ folder full of photos. They eventually got the photo count down to about 80 images, Baibak said.
Davis said the photos are full of people and places that represent Detroit, such as a group of kids playing under the Dodge Fountain at Hart Plaza on a summer day or two young men hanging out at the Heidelberg Project.
Other photos featured in the exhibit include a young man on Belle Isle doing a wheelie on his bike, Davis’ friends on a street corner and Davis’ nephew sitting on a swing, Baibak said.
“It was one of the ones that we printed really large and we suspended it from the ceiling, so it’s like his nephew is looking out into the gallery,” he said.
“Homeroom” also isn’t afraid to get dark. There’s a drone shot of Davis’ family on the day that the artist found out his cousin was shot and killed.
“There’s definitely these scenes of Detroit,” Baibak said. “He (Davis) doesn’t hold back.”
In addition to his exhibit, Davis gave an artist talk Jan. 13 at MSU’s Multicultural Center and talked to some art and African American studies classes last week about his work and experience as a photographer.
“He shares so freely,” Baibak said about Davis. “He’s a really wise guy, he has a lot of intelligence and wisdom. It was really great to hear him talk to the students about owning your existence, owning your path and stuff like that. Those are really great things for young people to hear from other young people.”
While Davis is happy to see his spotlight rise, he’s already thinking about outdoing what he did the previous year. In the last few weeks, he’s been visiting schools in the Detroit Public Schools Community District talking to students and he’s hosting a workshop at the Detroit Institute of Arts on Feb. 22.
“I don’t be satisfied,” Davis said. “It’s always something coming up next. I’ll celebrate something for two, three days, but then I keep it going. That’s how I stay grounded.”