Alexander Pines is a writer and photographer from Kalamazoo, MI. Assuming he completes his last gym credit, he will graduate from Columbia University in spring 2016. His work has appeared on VICE, Mic.com, and elsewhere, and you can hear him as the host of the literary podcast re:vision. He tweets at @apines11.
What happens to a place when it can no longer define itself by its history, when it tears everything down? What is the rust belt without the plants, the factories? Who is the boy without his sister?