For much of the twentieth century, Detroit, Michigan was a pillar of American innovation and ingenuity. As the seat of the United States' automotive manufacturing and the birthplace of Motown Records, the culture, landscape, and sound of the greater Detroit metropolis was defined by its industries and the people who made them run. However by 2013 the shifting political, economic, and industrial realities of the previous decades had left the city with the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history.

Alec Soth, on assignment for W Magazine, photographed the artists, designers, and musicians...