After my first visit to the abandoned asylum near my grandmother's house I wanted to see more, but I had no clue where to find more of these abandoned wonders. I searched online for "abandoned buildings near me" and to no surprise I couldn't find much. I did however find this youtube channel about "urban exploration" which I had never heard of. After watching some videos I realized this is what I had to do, meet people who were involved in Urban Exploration, or "urbex". Through Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and various reddit threads I was able to create a network of Urbex friends and come up with my puzzle pieces of location information. About two months after that I found a ton of photographers who shot abandoned buildings and even published incredible books with their work. Will Ellis was my first inspiration, I took to his work not only because he is undeniably talented but because his website and book are both Abandoned NYC which meant that I too had a chance at visiting the places he did.
For anyone interested in the art of photographing abandoned places or the subculture known as urban exploration, this page is for you. Even if you don't particularly care to know about this art or exploration and adventure, it will give you a better sense of what I (and these other photographers do) as well as what I had to go through to find these locations and take these photos.
For anyone interested in the art of photographing abandoned places or the subculture known as urban exploration, this page is for you. Even if you don't particularly care to know about this art or exploration and adventure, it will give you a better sense of what I (and these other photographers do) as well as what I had to go through to find these locations and take these photos.
Urban exploration
"Ninjalicious" considered to be the father of urban exploration was the creator of infiltration.org and wrote Access All Areas: A User's Guide to the Art of Urban Exploration. While Urban Exploration or "urbex" encompasses any adventure that entails gaining entry into off limits areas, the area of urbex that I take part in is the exploration of abandoned places.
The key rules of urban exploration are as follows
1. No theft
2. No vandalism
3. No unnecessary destruction
4. Leave nothing behind but footprints
1. No theft
2. No vandalism
3. No unnecessary destruction
4. Leave nothing behind but footprints
Youtube explorers
A lot of the "Urban Explorers" make videos of each location visit and upload them to youtube for viewers to explore with them digitally. Below are videos from those who film their expeditions and have either an entire account or playlist on their account dedicated to urban exploration.
Exploring with Josh visits the Rockland State Hospital Children's Ward.
This is Dan Bell has shot the Dead Motel series, Abandoned Documentaries, Forgotten Poconos, and Dead Mall series all available for viewing on his youtube account under their own playlist. Dan's steady camera skills, smooth transitions and knowledgeable narration are what sets him apart from the Urbex vlog accounts. The video below features Dan exploring alone and doesn't find out that there may have been multiple people in the asylum with him until he reviewed the footage later and when his subscribers commented the moments they saw something "strange".
Elton, Colby, Corey, Sam and Amanda have made multiple trips to this abandoned California mall but in this third attempt at spending the night the group's night is interrupted but strange sounds. While even the most daring of urban explorers wouldn't even think to spend the night in one of the abandoned places they visit, these friends have spent the night at multiple locations. After hearing a series of strange noises they clearly hear someone yelling inside and decide to get out more than halfway through the night. When they get to their entry/exit point they are terrified to see the door was closed even though they had left it open...and they were not ready for what was waiting for them on the other side.
Photo taken by Justin of Vacant NJ
Justin is the creator of Vacant NJ and has been exploring abandoned places for years. When he posts his photos to his site he always includes a creative narrative to accompany each location.
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"I continued forward through the corridor of laboratories, holding out hope that there would be something left behind in the following rooms. Taking the stairwell down the basement level, the temperature instantly dropped and the humidity fogged over everything, creating a thin film of water on the tile hallway that was slippery as ice. It appeared much of the equipment had been moved into the basement. Huge steam sterilizers and various scientific paraphernalia sat like prehistoric beasts, glimmering as a swept by with my flashlight. The low light was difficult to photograph in, but I managed to snap a few photos of the more interesting appliances. I treaded carefully to avoid slipping, taking mental note of the various identification tags on the machines, hoping with later research to gain some insight on what purposes these devices may have served."
-Justin |
