Urban Exploration - Urbex

What a romantic, mysterious idea it is to explore old ruined buildings and photograph them. Leaving only footprints and taking only photographs. Fantastic. I bought the three books that my friend Brian was showing to a few people at ADAPS and I think they are definitely worth the money. Find them on Amazon.

Abandoned Places (2) by Henk Van Rensbergen The images in this book are superb and the text is to the point and sensible. I think of the three I enjoyed this one the most and I now need to find the first one in the series. Breathtaking!

Forbidden Places by Sylvain Margaine Again superb images, but I think slightly devalued by the over-fanciful text provided by David Margaine.Absolutely worth looking at the images though.

Beauty in Decay by RomanyWG This is my second favourite and what incredible images we have. The concept of the mysterious figure in an Urbex setting is brilliant and I would love to explore the placement of models in these strange, compelling locations.

Three books, all recommended!

If you like that sort of thing (and I do very much) then have a look at this website and join in

Thanks hefty1

Urbex is fun, and can be fascinating, though not without hazards since abandoned buildings are often over-run with rats and pigeons.

These were shot at an old asylum (yes, that's what it was called) in mid Wales.

[IMG]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a119/Sandeha/talgarth/080328_tx_06.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a119/Sandeha/talgarth/080328_tx_11.jpg[/IMG]

(Hmm ... now that I no longer have the Hasselblad maybe I should reconsider 6x7. )

I think I know where that was...

If it's the one I'm thinking of their cinema screen was bought by a local cinema after the hospital moved to new buildings and is still doing sterling service!

Talgarth. Was that where you were thinking of?

[IMG]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a119/Sandeha/talgarth/080328_tx_201.jpg[/IMG]

This was three years ago - I noted that the projector loft was empty!

Talgarth is in a right old state now. I have a shot of the same hall in one of my flickr sets link from last summer. I almost went through the rotten floorboards upstairs in one of the wards.

If you're doing a spot of Urbex, don't go alone, it can be hazardous.

I did my first one yesterday . RAF Upwood. Not very good weather and was very knackering. but I think I got some cool shots. Have a bunch of drive bys to process first, but then I'll get onto the URbex shots.

The 28days later site is excellent btw

Yep, that's the one. Not sure about the projector but they definitely had the screen as I've spoken to the chap who brought it back (and operated it a few times while rigging for a live show which didn't require the screen).

I have also heard that the building is in a terrible state. Supposedly the admin block is still near-perfect, but go through the door into the rest of the complex and it's a real mess.

This site by a young lady photographer has some excellent urbex photos.
www.prettyvacant.fotopic.net

This comes to mind when this topic is mentioned.

Life After People.

Good question Gareth. I suspect many never even think about it. These buildings may be riddled with asbestos in uncontrolled decay and it can be deadly.

I have a friend who works in asbestos removal and it's an expensive business hiring him.

Wearing a msak would help, but it would need a good quality mask I think and not one that was constantly reused.

I wouldn't ask the local authority if you want any possibility of ANYONE being able to access the building. One whiff of risk and it'll be barricaded or torn down.

With a mask you're going to be protected, without one you are at risk, but it's probably still not a very high risk if you take care not to disturb anything.

I've just looked into this on another forum and, apart from the usual flippant replies and those who don't care about danger, the general consensus seems to be that we should be very careful not to disturb anything, especially pipe lagging, as all buildings prior to 2000 will contain asbestos. We don't want to breathe it in.

Paper masks seem to need to be p3 type, whatever that is, but to be absolutely sure would need a full respirator, which is unrealistic.

So wear a good mask, don't kick up loads of dust, don't disturb anything, presumably move through the building ninja-like.

Hope that helps, but remember I'm not an expert on this so please investigate it for yourselves before putting yourselves in danger.