UrbEx Multiplicity

Inspired by a friend's (Alexander Hosking) multiplicity shots, I was inspired to try my hand at it, and along the way, give myself a little bit of a post-processing workout.  This was shot inside an inner courtyard at an abandoned Detroit school.

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.

Penthouse Suite

This open concept suite features a spacious living and dining area, 2 bedrooms, a private walk out patio. It is located in the heart of Detroit, within walking distance of many amenities. This great space is just one coat of paint away from being ready to move into!

If you aren't familiar with my snarky sense of humour... the above is a bit of fiction that I thought was very fitting to this space on one of the upper floors at Metropolitan Hotel.

Detroit Lookout

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of spending a weekend exploring and shooting in Detroit with Neil Ta, Bart Synowiec, Ed Serecky, Detroit Liger and others. One of the locations we'd visited was the Lee Plaza. Neil has captured the plight of this location in a recent post so I won't rehash it here. Since it was my first time there, it was interesting to juxtapose what I was hearing about what the Lee Plaza was like in the past versus what it is like today.

Broken Stairwell

Calm Reflections

There is something to be said for a quiet and calm abandonement. No street noise, no sound of scrappers at work. Quiet enough that you hear the occasional drop of water falling into a puddle.

So often you have to momentarily forget about photography to really experience and feel your surroundings. Yet, sometimes that moment occurs while doing something as simple as setting up the shot. Despite the frantic pace at which we were shooting here (only had about an hour) that feeling of quiet, calm, and immersion in the surroundings came upon me while setting up.

Doorways

Room 709

The sheer amount and variety of abandonments that are awaiting exploration in Detroit is simply staggering. Despite the fact that so many of the abandonements have been stripped of their original aesthetic, you can always find something worth exploring and shooting.