Contributors: August 2011

Cara Boyer, Martin Michalek, Beatrice Katcher, Joshua Kristal, Erik Howard
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Cara Boyer

From the time she was very young, Boyer, a Michigan State University senior, has had a passion for words. “Before I could even decipher the letters in front of me, my favorite stories had been read to me so many times that I could recite them back to myself and turn the pages at the appropriate times,” Boyer says. She has been “devouring glossy magazine pages ever since,” which may partly explain why she’s a self-described pop-culture fanatic. As an editorial intern at Hour Detroit, Boyer says she has enjoyed expanding beyond her entertainment journalist roots and learning more about metro Detroit.

 

Martin Michalek

By night, Michalek aestivates in all-night Coney Islands and over-tips his waitresses for $2 tabs. But when the sun comes up, the mild-mannered English major interns at Hour Detroit. “I’m connecting to the city in ways I previously wasn’t aware of,” Michalek, a Brigham Young University senior, says. “Detroit has a lot to offer and I’m experiencing it from the best vantage point.” In addition to honing his writing and learning the magazine business, Michalek is thrilled to see his name in print. “I’m meeting other journalists, getting my writing out there, and realizing the office bears little resemblance to Mad Men. It’s a pleasure.”

 

Beatrice Katcher

For Katcher, the decision to major in journalism was originally sparked by an unwavering childhood habit of reading and keeping a journal. Katcher says working as an editorial intern at Hour Detroit before entering her senior year at Wayne State University was an amazing opportunity. “Because I’m a computer nerd with an abiding love for multimedia, I’ve really enjoyed writing and designing content for hourdetroit.com.” A Detroit native, Katcher says she also enjoyed digging through historical archives to learn more about the Belle Isle Aquarium and, in the process, discovering colorful details about the city where she grew up.

 

Joshua Kristal

Before leaving his native Detroit for Brooklyn, N.Y., Kristal did photographic work for The Jewish News. He returns with his camera frequently, however, which is evident in his industrial images, which appear here. “Zug Island is like a scary, fire-belching monster surrounded by a toxic moat next to a 300-year-old haunted fort,” Kristal says. In addition to the island’s “industrial and historical value, it’s visually striking,” he says. When he’s not shooting for the United Nations or The New York Times, Kristal enjoys New York’s free concerts, hanging out with his girlfriend, and plotting revenge on the squirrels in his junkyard garden.

 

Erik Howard

Last August, freelance photographer Howard trained his camera on the Woodward Dream Cruise, hoping to capture the thoroughly documented event in a fresh manner. Having gone to the first cruise in 1995 with his father, he’d had an early preview. He says he hopes his photos will allow readers to see car culture through a different lens. “I wanted to capture the Cruise through the eyes of the car owners,” he says. In addition to freelancing for Hour Detroit, Howard assists at Southwest Detroit’s Young Nations, an organization he helped co-found in 2002.