Abandoned
CategoryAbandoned buildings and places are at once mysterious, visually intriguing and often historically important. Known as urban exploration, the investigation of such places can offer a glimpse back in time, and appeals to a broad swath of individuals from photographers to local historians and anyone with an interest in the urban landscape.
6 Lost Airfields of the United States
A wealth of historic airfields can be found scattered across the United States in various states of disrepair. This article examines a range of these abandonments, from international airports to modern military bases and remote airstrips that helped steer the course of history.
The Road Less Travelled: Abandoned Streets and Overgrown Avenues
Disused buildings are a factor of every town and city, but entire abandoned roads are arguably the most haunting. Devoid of the purpose they were built for and heading for places that may no longer exist, these streets are a ghostly reminder of lost homes and forgotten destinations.
Photographing Decay: The Strange Appeal and Educational Qualities of Abandoned Places
Are you fascinated by forgotten places but not quite sure why? In this article, Thomas Slatin explains how taking photos of abandoned places can improve and build other photographic skills, and in doing so partly explains the strange visual appeal of urban decay.
Leningradskaya Station: Disused Soviet Research Facility
Leningradskaya Station was a Soviet Antarctic research facility on the north shore of Victoria Land. Not included in our recent article, 8 Abandoned Settlements of Antarctica, it is one of three mothballed Russian research stations that could soon be reactivated.
Abandoned Aircraft, Airfields, Airbases and Airport Terminals
Aircraft connect us with distant parts of the world in ways that ships and railways never could, and have been adapted for a variety of uses. But they have a shelf-life and are often recycled when their time comes. Sometimes, however, they’re abandoned along with the airfields that once served them.
Vintage Magazines Photographed in Abandoned Victorian Reform School
Photographer Tom Blackwell snapped these vintage magazines resting on a work bench inside the abandoned Eastmoor Reformatory. They include a May 1960 edition of Practical Woodworking, and would have been used to help young offenders gain vocational skills.
8 Ghost Towns & Abandoned Settlements of Antarctica
The latest installment of our popular Ghost Towns and Abandoned Cities of the World series takes us to Antarctica, where former whaling stations and abandoned research facilities have remained virtually untouched since they were vacated generations ago.
Eastmoor Reformatory: Deserted Secure Unit for Victorian Youth
Since it was abandoned in 1973, Eastmoor Reformatory is no longer as secure as it once was. In this series of images, photographer Tom Blackwell takes us on a virtual tour of the building that once housed 160 young offenders within its walls, in a bid to put their lives back on track.
The Poetic yet Terrifying Post-Apocalyptic Art of Christophe Dessaigne
Some parts of our planet are a graveyard of lost civilizations, and you don’t have to travel far to find some vestige of a bygone age. But have you ever considered that, one day, a modern culture might walk among the “ancient” ruins of our own world?
8 Abandoned Hospitals, Hotels and Schools
Hotels, hospitals and schools are three institutions that rely on guests, patients and pupils to keep them functioning. Take those elements away and the buildings cannot survive for long, leaving only peeling walls and crumbling corridors to remind us of their past.
Crumbling Elegance: The Towering Ruins of Detroit, Michigan
Detroit was once a boom town accounting for one of the largest collections of architecturally inspired buildings in America – impressive structures that still stand today, albeit gutted skeletons of their former selves.
A Brief Introduction to Urban Exploration
It’s strange that deserted buildings and underground tunnels can be such fascinating places. But the truth is that most of us have turned our attention to these quiet abandonments at some point, even just in passing. The world is a smaller place than it once was, and sometimes the uncharted territory is directly beneath our feet.
6 Ghost Towns and Abandoned Cities of Oceania
Like American’s Old West, many ghost towns and abandoned cities in Oceania were once humble mining camps that became bustling communities with extensive modern infrastructures – only to fall into abandonment due to the depletion of natural resources.
A Good Wash: Manchester’s Derelict Harpurhey Baths gets a Makeover
It may not be as impressive as Manchester’s best known empty pool complex but Harpurhey Baths is still a fine example of Edwardian swimming pool architecture – and one of the last.
Vintage Posters Discovered in Abandoned London Tube Station
The London Underground is an incredible maze of subterranean railways, stations and ticket halls – and that doesn’t account for the myriad abandoned passageways that are strictly off limits to the public, let alone the ageing relics that linger on in this dark underworld.