It’s a long story and I don’t want to get too specific, but I’ve been photographing a complex of abandoned (and, for the most part, very tightly sealed) buildings for a few months. I have to kill about an hour each time I go there and have collected an amazing gallery of photos.
Of course, I’ve checked the odd door here and there, the ones that aren’t obviously rusted into their frames, bolted, or even welded shut. No soap.
Until today. The nice thing about a lot of snow is that it keeps people away from abandoned sites… but the ones who do go there leave tracks. To unlocked doors. And sometimes a ground-sweep to indicate the door opens.
Unfortunately, I completely lacked a flashlight and I was not going into the dark recesses without one, but I wandered around two different buildings and found the secret entrance to the crown jewel - found it because as I was shooting the outside, I hear voices and bumps inside. I called out “I can hear you out here - you might want to be quieter.” No response. I searched all around the building for footprints etc. and finally found some tiptoes from melted patch to melted patch to a back service door that was boarded over… and the lower sheet was loose, carefully set back into position from inside. I was out of time but next time I will go more prepared.
I am confident they were no threat to me. They were almost certainly college students, doing exactly what I was doing. If I’d had more time, I would have talked them to the window to exchange notes.
Oddly enough, this complex is NOT in a rundown area or a magnet for homeless, creeps, etc. I have looked inside most of the buildings and there is no sign of vandalism, drug nests, or hostiles. That the buildings are intermixed with others in continual use helps.
Also fairly dangerous and not to be undertaken without multiple experienced people. Besides the buildings being shaky (although all these are old brick monoliths), floors can be rotten, ceilings about to come down, and trip and laceration hazards are everywhere.
I went through the first floor of one building and it seemed fairly safe until I realized (1) what the broken half-tubes on the floor were and (2) why there were discarded surgical masks here and there. The answer to (2) is that prior explorers were smarter than I was.
But damn, it’s fun, especially for a photographer.
I opened the thread thinking you meant exploring storm drains, abandoned tunnels, and the like. You know, things that might be analogous to actual spelunking. (Although actual spelunkers tend to call themselves ‘cavers,’ at least in the U.S.)
Not in the city. I’m sort of a wanderer, and I’ve taken to spending many hours in the boonies wandering around in my UTV. I’ve found some really old homesteads (at least the foundations) and one whiskey still that I suppose dates to pre-prohibition. I think the remains of the cabin and root cellar were in excess of 100 years old. Keyword being “think” (I’m not an expert on this).
I’ve also found what I believe to be the site of a small civil war battle in mid-southern Arkansas. I had been out roaming on the Rhino for 6 or 7 hours and came across an area that “seemed” to be too geometric for nature and it sort of seemed like I was looking at battle revetments. A little work with a metal detector uncovered a large amount of musket balls* and some odds and ends (hooks, pack fasteners, I think, etc.) I also found evidence of long-ago human occupation just from the uncannily neat rows of some of the plants.
So to answer the OP’s question… not exactly, but I do explore old habitation sites.
Sorry, didn’t mean to be overly cryptic. The plumbing in such building, especially those with hot water or steam heat and especially in the basement level (where I was) tend to be insulated with a thick outer casing of asbestos insulation. If undisturbed they’re little threat, but there were broken-off halves lying on the floor here and there. In dry weather, kicking up any dust could mean inhaling the fibers.
I didn’t touch or bump anything and the interior was sufficiently damp to keep dust down. I will be wearing a good respirator mask if I return.
The various discarded surgical masks near the doors indicate that the usual explorers - college students - were smart enough to be careful in this regard.
I am pulling together a sufficiently anonymous online gallery to post these and other pictures.
Have you ever been to the website Opacity? Mr. Motts (I think – it’s been a while since I visited last) has an amazing collection of all the places he’s been and photographed, both here in the states and elsewhere. If you need any tips on urban exploration, that’s the place to get it, since there are message boards too. I highly recommend it.
Yeah, not as smart as they think they are. The reason asbestos is bad is because the particles are so fine they can get all the way into the structural spaces of the lungs and become lodged there. You need at least an N-90 respirator mask for protection. A surgical mask does nothing.
I went to the same college as my mother, and when I attended, the building next to the art building (where I spent most of my time) was condemned. It was the old library (the new one had opened a couple of years previously and was probably ten times the size), and I actually didn’t realize it the first time I wandered in there. I could tell it wasn’t being used. It was a fine old building, neo-Classical university architecture from the 1900s. Lots of plaster, brass doorknobs, transome windows, and that certain kind of tile with translucent glaze you only ever see in schools and hospitals.
Most of the doors were locked, but just wandering through the halls was a fine time. The floor plan was broken out into multiple rooms, which I’ve only ever seen in much older libraries. I did find a few cardboard boxes of books that no one had bothered moving; they were mostly thin paperback books from the sixties and seventies, nothing of literary or monetary value. It was lonely and nostalgic and strange. I wish I’d thought to take pictures, but this was long before the days of cell phone cameras. I’d have needed to bring an actual camera.
Within a couple of years, the building was torn down, and they left the space as a grassy, open area.
Yes, it’s called “Urban Exploration.” In fact the guy who started the website for it died tragically from accidentally falling off a platform in an abandoned factory. We have the utmost respect for the buildings (“Take only pictures, leave only footprints”) and it pisses us off to get lumped in with the vandals and tag-monkeys.
It’s a fascinating hobby but don’t go alone and be very aware of the structures you’re in. Also watch for security - you can get fined for “trespassing” and I know a girl who had a security guard pull a gun on her.
I came in here to mention Opacity, but faithfool beat me to it. Amazing site. When I used to read it regularly, I was often visited with an overwhelming desire to go explore some abandoned buildings. Never did it, though–I don’t even know where there are any around here, and even if I did, I’d be too chicken to do it. I have to live vicariously through others’ photos, I guess.
I think you are being a bit overconfident bordering on foolish. I sell commerical real estate and good portion of the time people trespassing inside older building sites are looking to strip out copper or aluminum to sell for a meth or crack fix or just for cash. They are not usually in a mood to pal around.
