Educating the Masses

Most of the sites you visit as an urban explorer, particularly in North America, are in a fairly advanced state of decay. With vandalism, graffitti artists and taggers, as well as scrapper activity sites deteriorate quite quickly. As such, it's quite uncommon to be able to visit an abandonement which is in earlier stages of decay. This school in Detroit was one such site as evidenced by this dummy, used in teaching First Aid, that I'd come upon.

With a little bit of TLC, this dummy, along with the entire school could probably be opened to students in fairly short order. There is a certain degree of eeriness that one feels when walking through a site that seems as though it could be in-use today.

Farwell

Ever since I got interested in exploring abandonements in other cities, the Farwell building in Detroit has been in the top of my personal "must see" sites.  On all of my previous trips to Detroit, it has never accessible.  On my last trip, lo and behold, it was accessible.  Today Farwell is merely a shell of its former self, yet, it is still a beautiful building with fantastic architecture.  I can't begin to think how impressive this site was mere months ago when most of the railings were still present.

Explosion

One of the things I enjoy about shooting urbex with other photographers is being able to look at their work afterwards and see the same locations that I've been to through their eyes. One of the side effects of doing that is occasionally getting an idea to try something new, something you've never tried to do.

Such was the case with this image from the abandoned Packard plant in Detroit. On a previous trip to Detroit, my friend !Bart took a photo that reminded me that under the right conditions, it's perfectly fine to have blown out highlights or pitch black shadows. At the end of the day, learning and growing is what this is all about, regardless how that process occurs.

Convey

Not a lot to say about this.  Fairly standard conveyor belt shot from an abandoned factory in Toronto.

Pristine Decay

In theory, the words pristine and decay should contradict one another.  Yet, on this occasion I found myself within a church that while undergoing obvious signs of decay still have a rather pristine quality about it.  It hasn't yet been exposed to a large amount of activity from scrappers, vandals, or even graffiti artists. Standing within this church, the term seemed a perfect fit.

Starving

Buffalo, NY was the world's largest grain port from the mid 1800s to the mid 1900s.  As such, the waterways in and around Buffalo were home to a large number of grain elevators, a key component in grain receival, storage, and logistics.  Today, many of these grain elevators are decaying shells, mere reminders of their former glory.

Good Morning T.O.

Despite its size, our city is so very quiet on some mornings.

Rooftopping Nature

While rooftopping in urban centres has exploded over the last couple of years, people have been doing essentially the same thing in natural settings for many years.  This hiking trail on Manitoulin Island provided fantastic views while giving you an experience and feeling that's very similar to being parched high atop a roof of a skyscraper.

Breakout

I know, it's stereotypical, but... what is it that one must shoot while exploring an abandoned prison?  Jail cells, of course.

Ready to Launch

I've always thought that Roy Thomson Hall could double as an urban missile silo.  While normally the notion of Canadians bearing arms would be quite outrageous,  maybe after this weekend's shooting at the Eaton Centre Mall... not so much?