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DPChallenge Forums >> Current Challenge >> NO TRESPASSING! Abandoned Buildings (Archival)
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01/03/2023 11:35:36 AM · #1
Hey guys!

This has been a fun challenge, even though I quickly discovered that I have no intention of messing with the Italian Carabinieri (police) or angry farmers/landowners and/or viscounts to shoot some of the incredible abandoned locations around my province.

I had nothing suitable in my archive, for it doesn't really exist, but I was happy to find a subject locally.

It got me thinking about some of the best abandoned locations I've seen. Here in Lombardy I found a few great sites with suggestions which I didn't end up using, for example here at this link you can see some awesome abandoned villas and even a ghost town in the mountains. One of my favourites there is one my wife knew, an entire town intended to capture the spirit of Las Vegas with games, casinos and hotels that got abandoned after a landslide closed the road and made the already-struggling business unviable. It's a popular place to go and shoot (and vandalise) but nowadays it's likely too dangerous to spend any time in.

One of my favourites in Sicily was the ghost town of Poggioreale, destroyed by an earthquake in the 60s and left pretty much in the same state since.

The thing is these places are all technically off-limits and a little dangerous both for what might happen and who you might meet.

How much experience do you have with abandoned places? Do you like to venture into these old buildings to get a few snaps from time to time? What's your craziest experience?

I'm curious to see who's the most adventurous at DPC when it comes to this :)
01/03/2023 12:00:39 PM · #2
Despite not entering this (yet?) I have TONS of shots of abandoned buildings.

I think my favorite two stories, well, one story, one place with a thousand stories - are the following.

In Hartford CT, when working for the University of Hartford, as a consultant, I had a little free time and decided to go explore some of the abandoned buildings there. Now, keep in mind, folks will tell you to NEVER go to that area, far too dangerous, but.. I have never been one to listen to that sort of advice, so off I went.

Mind you, I have a DSLR with me, am wearing business clothing (not a suit, just slacks, and I don't think I had a jacket on, but may have.) - so I'm looking pretty snazzy, and have a rented Caddy CTS that I'm rolling in.

So, I park outside of one of the most promising areas, and head inside - naturally, I always call out, introducing myself, and my intentions, since you never really know what you're going to get walking into these spots, could well be a mini-lab and they think my well dressed ass is a detective. :) - so, when I do, I get a cheery reply from the dark ass depths of this old factory I'm in - something to the effect of "COME ON IN! Join the party!".. LOL. Well, I roll in, and there sits a group of guys, homeless one and all, passing around a bottle of liquor, and smoking and bullshitting with each other.

Naturally, they were curious wtf I was up to, so I just told them, and they were like, well OK! Right on. Naturally, they needed to see if they could get something outta me, and it ended up that I (quite amusedly and happily) agreed to take a couple of them over to the liquor store, and since, hey, I had free time, I'd grab a drink for myself too, why not. :).

So, here I am, in a brand new car, dressed fairly well, rolling through hartford with a couple of homeless dudes with me, they're having the TIME OF THEIR LIFE, lol, just stoked as hell to be getting rolled around town in a lux. car.

Anyway, we get the beer, liquor, whatever it was, head back to the place, and sat around bullshitting while I had my beer. By then, the light was GREAT, so I thanked them for the company, went off to get some shots, and left to head to return the car and fly out of town.

It was a good day, ton of fun with those guys. :)

--

The second one is here in South Florida, the old Aerojet - essentially, it's where they were building and testing technology for the moon race - ton of abandoned buildings in the middle of the Everglades. I LOVED it for a few reasons, mostly because it was miles of exploring to do on a Onewheel, but also, because at night, it was a SUPER fun place to go out with my night vision setup and play around. Took MANY MANY group rides there, and have just an amazing number of great memories down there. :)
01/03/2023 12:02:23 PM · #3
By the way, this sort of challenge you're facing is where I would just go make a new freind. Ask the owner if they'd join you for dinner or a coffee to discuss the idea. You'd be surprised how many folks are happy to say yes, once they know you're not a weirdo. Or at least, some sort of harmless nice weirdo. :)
01/03/2023 12:12:33 PM · #4
Here in Fort Worth, we had a couple of abandoned plants that used to house the Swift and Armour meatpacking companies. It was right next to the Stockyards, which is the local tourist trap taste of the old West that everyone visiting seeks out. I understand when they tried to knock down the main Swift building, they broke several wrecking ball on it. It was finally taken down just a few years back with more modern methods. I snuck in there a handful of times, once with a couple of other DPC'ers who I don't think are currently active on DPC, though I am regularly in touch with bergiekat through Facebook.


01/03/2023 12:14:45 PM · #5
Originally posted by Cory:

Despite not entering this (yet?) I have TONS of shots of abandoned buildings.

I think my favorite two stories, well, one story, one place with a thousand stories - are the following.

In Hartford CT, when working for the University of Hartford, as a consultant, I had a little free time and decided to go explore some of the abandoned buildings there. Now, keep in mind, folks will tell you to NEVER go to that area, far too dangerous, but.. I have never been one to listen to that sort of advice, so off I went.

Mind you, I have a DSLR with me, am wearing business clothing (not a suit, just slacks, and I don't think I had a jacket on, but may have.) - so I'm looking pretty snazzy, and have a rented Caddy CTS that I'm rolling in.

So, I park outside of one of the most promising areas, and head inside - naturally, I always call out, introducing myself, and my intentions, since you never really know what you're going to get walking into these spots, could well be a mini-lab and they think my well dressed ass is a detective. :) - so, when I do, I get a cheery reply from the dark ass depths of this old factory I'm in - something to the effect of "COME ON IN! Join the party!".. LOL. Well, I roll in, and there sits a group of guys, homeless one and all, passing around a bottle of liquor, and smoking and bullshitting with each other.

Naturally, they were curious wtf I was up to, so I just told them, and they were like, well OK! Right on. Naturally, they needed to see if they could get something outta me, and it ended up that I (quite amusedly and happily) agreed to take a couple of them over to the liquor store, and since, hey, I had free time, I'd grab a drink for myself too, why not. :).

So, here I am, in a brand new car, dressed fairly well, rolling through hartford with a couple of homeless dudes with me, they're having the TIME OF THEIR LIFE, lol, just stoked as hell to be getting rolled around town in a lux. car.

Anyway, we get the beer, liquor, whatever it was, head back to the place, and sat around bullshitting while I had my beer. By then, the light was GREAT, so I thanked them for the company, went off to get some shots, and left to head to return the car and fly out of town.

It was a good day, ton of fun with those guys. :)

--

The second one is here in South Florida, the old Aerojet - essentially, it's where they were building and testing technology for the moon race - ton of abandoned buildings in the middle of the Everglades. I LOVED it for a few reasons, mostly because it was miles of exploring to do on a Onewheel, but also, because at night, it was a SUPER fun place to go out with my night vision setup and play around. Took MANY MANY group rides there, and have just an amazing number of great memories down there. :)


That's a great story! Man you're right, I'm sure if you meet anyone in these place the most likely reason for them being there is that they're just a curious explorer too...

I noticed a rural family-run restaurant/hotel that we like has a couple of awesome old derelict farmhouses on their land. Maybe I'll start slowly, asking them if I can get some shots and then get braver from there (the derelict catholic school / orphanage in my town is an imposing presence over the main road. It's been cordoned off as kids keep breaking in but hey, can't hurt to ask at the council office...)

Originally posted by Yo_Spiff:

Here in Fort Worth, we had a couple of abandoned plants that used to house the Swift and Armour meatpacking companies. It was right next to the Stockyards, which is the local tourist trap taste of the old West that everyone visiting seeks out. I understand when they tried to knock down the main Swift building, they broke several wrecking ball on it. It was finally taken down just a few years back with more modern methods. I snuck in there a handful of times, once with a couple of other DPC'ers who I don't think are currently active on DPC, though I am regularly in touch with bergiekat through Facebook.



These are great! Thank you for sharing. You made some wonderful compositional choices that give me some food for thought as I look to get into photographing buildings more.

I hope your recovery is going well!

Message edited by author 2023-01-03 12:16:48.
01/03/2023 12:22:48 PM · #6
Originally posted by Cory:

Despite not entering this (yet?) I have TONS of shots of abandoned buildings.

Cory LOVES to trespass and go places he shouldn't go. When he was visiting me back in 2011, we went to the new bridge being constructed in Dallas and went up on the bridge deck under construction (I made my wife stay safely on the ground, for her own safety and in case we needed someone to bail us out of jail) Cory spotted an open hatch into the guts of the bridge structure and went down inside. Apparently there were workers in there and he got chased out.
01/03/2023 12:32:46 PM · #7
I've been put in jail for being in an abandoned building with a camera.

Do *NOT* take the "No Trespassing" signs lightly.

I used to be one of those who wouldn't break, but *would* enter.

That's a distinction you don't want to have to discuss with either a policeman or a judge.

Suffice it to say that even though my record was expunged, having gone through the process, I'm more careful.

I don't do Urbex the same way any more.....
01/03/2023 12:35:30 PM · #8
There are very few abandoned sites in Switzerland, so far I have only seen one building in bad need of repair held together by steel rope. I wouldn't like to venture inside, the rope looked quite thin.

In 2017 we went to Paris for the last time before moving to Switzerland and on one of the walks along an abandoned railway line we came across a homeless family:


I still feel uncomfortable having taken this photo and using it in a challenge. Since then I made a rule to never take photos of the unfortunate ones. It seems to me like profiteering from their misfortune.
01/03/2023 12:49:02 PM · #9
Originally posted by MargaretNet:

There are very few abandoned sites in Switzerland, so far I have only seen one building in bad need of repair held together by steel rope. I wouldn't like to venture inside, the rope looked quite thin.

In 2017 we went to Paris for the last time before moving to Switzerland and on one of the walks along an abandoned railway line we came across a homeless family:


I still feel uncomfortable having taken this photo and using it in a challenge. Since then I made a rule to never take photos of the unfortunate ones. It seems to me like profiteering from their misfortune.


The photo is quite powerful though, I feel it's justified that you took it.

It's strange... as someone who grew up in Manchester and London I'm no stranger to homelessness and poverty and yet I was shocked when arriving in Paris for the first time a couple of years back by coach and witnessing the shanty towns constructed under railway bridges and motorways on the way in.

Originally posted by NikonJeb:

I've been put in jail for being in an abandoned building with a camera.

Do *NOT* take the "No Trespassing" signs lightly.

I used to be one of those who wouldn't break, but *would* enter.

That's a distinction you don't want to have to discuss with either a policeman or a judge.

Suffice it to say that even though my record was expunged, having gone through the process, I'm more careful.

I don't do Urbex the same way any more.....


I'm with you on that. I think there's definitely a way of exploring a lot of places just by finding the owner and asking permission although it maybe lacks the thrill that people get from it.

I did a shoot once in my old job in an abandoned hospital in central London. Most terrifying location you can imagine, still all kitted out but abandoned and sealed since the sixties. Loads of these places just belong to the local council or various private entities that rent them out for film shoots and events and so on so can be easier to access without treading on any toes (or landing in jail!)

Message edited by author 2023-01-03 12:51:56.
01/03/2023 05:06:26 PM · #10
Originally posted by MargaretNet:

There are very few abandoned sites in Switzerland, so far I have only seen one building in bad need of repair held together by steel rope. I wouldn't like to venture inside, the rope looked quite thin.

In 2017 we went to Paris for the last time before moving to Switzerland and on one of the walks along an abandoned railway line we came across a homeless family:


I still feel uncomfortable having taken this photo and using it in a challenge. Since then I made a rule to never take photos of the unfortunate ones. It seems to me like profiteering from their misfortune.


It's about perspective. I have images of homeless, less fortunate folk from over the years. I live in a city where people down on their luck live, whether it be in a tent under a bridge, or whatever.

Simply engaging with them will sometimes be all one needs to have them allow you to shoot their portrait. It's not a case of profiteering. It's an awareness thing.
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