Urban exploration: Discovering and exploring man made structures that have been disused and abandoned for often a long period of time.
It is surprising how much information on this subject is out there, not to mention books and forums on the subject are widely available and definitely worth checking out if you are thinking this is something you want to get into.
Many people do it without a camera, others, thankfully like to document what they see and find with the rest of us through photography. This is where urban exploration becomes really interesting.
Seeing others work inspired me to go and find some locations for myself.
Finding places can be tricky, but once you get started, it becomes addictive and you are constantly on the look out for empty buildings, crumbling structures, waiting for places to close down. An ever growing list of new explores is always on hand.
I have a had a lot of people asking me where the building I photograph are located, but there are a few codes of conduct amongst urban explorers that stop such information being forwarded too easily!
This may sound stupid at first, but when I look at the amount of time I have spent hunting a few places down, it seems like a crime to go giving them out for free to others!
A great way to get the ball rolling is to find a few people that are also interested in the subject. I'm lucky enough to have a few friends who love photography and love exploring (and that have the balls to do it!) - I'm not denying it, it can be scary at times, but that's all part of the fun.......
Another bit of advice I can offer is to get online and to check out a few forums. I'm not into forums at all and generally despise them! BUT, for this topic, it is a great way to get out there and see what others are up too. What new finds they have, where they have been, where they are intending on going, and, most importantly, their location.
Finding a few members that are local to your area are a handy connection. Even if they don't give the locations away, you can make a rough guess at recognising them and making your own adventure from there :)
Here are some links to a few great forums on the subject:
http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/
http://www.urbexforums.co.uk/
http://www.silentuk.com/
http://www.urbansickness.co.uk/
http://urbanexplorers.net/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/990583@N23/
Once you have got to grips with the forums and you know the best way to go about exploring, it's time to get out there and make it happen.
You pictures and locations sure as hell wont happen themselves!
Another good thing to do is check out your local library in town or college. I have a few books (much to my surprise) on the topic.
Most libraries will have a local section too dedicated to history and heritage of your area, this is another good place to have a look and get some research together.
I found a book by Tarquin Blake which was based around many old building throughout Ireland.
Here is a link to his website:
http://www.abandonedireland.com/keywords.html
Once you have hit a few buildings, your work will start to grow quickly. You will also find that on some of the forums, if you prove yourself with enough of your own work and finds, you might just discover that the members are happy to help out with finding new locations or giving you a few hints as to where a few may be.
It's a bit of a trust thing, but it's a nice way to be. Otherwise, anyone and everyone would be doing it.
The unfortunate aspects that come with certain people knowing about these locations can be vandalism, which urban explorers find totally not cool!
As photographers, finding the areas without graffiti, damage, signs of homelessness etc is gold to us. The better images are left when the places have remained untouched and have only fallen apart naturally over time.
Vandalism can take away the creepy, 'time stands still' feeling to a lot of these places. It's more fun knowing that without graffiti, empty bottles, mattress and old shoes, that you and probably only a handful of others have been through the location.
Enough talk for now, here are a few pics.......
Some of this work of mine is from last year, but I have a few finds that I'm hoping to explore next week as I have a bit of free time from college work, so expect a few new and interesting finds up on my pages soon.
Hope this small article will help you on your way to getting some nice images of abandoned spaces....along with experiencing the thrill, risk and fear of it all too!
Have fun guys!
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