Tag Archives: Flickr

From the Flickr Group

Do you have photos taken in the United States of urbex locations? Share them in the American Urbex Flickr Group.


Untitled by .tom troutman. – A beautiful blend of light, shadow, and decay. The shade of blue really caught my eye.


Untitled by urbandecay. – The reflection of these vintage television screens is amazing.

McKenzie Archive
McKenzie Archive by Sandra Herber – The wave-like warping of the basketball court brings motion to an otherwise static and symmetric shot.

Power Plant
Power Plant by hoodwatch – A beautiful exterior shot of the Hudson Generating Station. I lost myself for about an hour scouring hoodwatch’s amazing photostream.

American Hotel - Chairs, 2010
American Hotel – Chairs, 2010 by SeanGalbraith.com – This is now one of my favorite images of all time added to the group. I love the subdued patriotism.

From the Flickr Group

Do you have photos taken in the United States of urbex locations? Share them in the American Urbex Flickr Group.

Light Up the Darkness

Light Up the Darkness by Nate Ortiz – Simple in its composure for what I assume was a “right-place at the right-time” moment.

Blast Furnace

Blast Furnace by Filth City – A massive blast furnace in Pennsylvania tempts me to hop into the car and spend a few hundred bucks in gas and tolls just to get there.

Old Reid Hospital

Old Reid Hospital by Take only photos, Leave only footprints – This hospital has been on my list for a long time. The geometry pulled me in.

Haynes Automobile Factory

Haynes Automobile Factory by JJACOBSphotography – Jeremy informed me in person that he does not care for this photo even though I like it. Deal with it.

Armour Meat Packing Plant

Armour Meat Packing Plant by RonOsborn/TheOtherOne – Keen-eyed American Urbex Podcast subscribers will recognize this massive steel dynamo wheel as the logo.

From the Flickr Group

American Urbex has a group on Flickr. Please join and share your beautiful urban exploration photos with the group!

Facebook? Oh, we have that too. We’ve also got one of those Twitter feeds to occupy your neural nodes.

A case for concrete and steel stairs

A case for concrete and steel stairs by eholubow. The angle and visible unsteadiness of the stairway is disorienting in a good way.

yellow chair

yellow chair by Jonathan Much. I like how the chair is not facing the photographer.

Dept 192

Dept 192 by Doostydusty. I wonder what Department 192 produced.

C-Arm Xray Machine

C-Arm Xray Machine by nitram242. The sterility of this environment is compromised by the subtle broken window.

MJ Hospital

MJ Hospital by nvaughn. The balance created using a square crop is fantastic.

From the Flickr Group

American Urbex has a group on Flickr. Please join and share your beautiful urban exploration photos with the group!

Facebook? Oh, we have that too. We’ve also got one of those Twitter feeds to fill your stimulate your social networking cortex.

Untitled by Alex Vetri

The regal architecture left behind in Detroit is astounding. I really need to get around to going there sometime soon. The piano and hints of furnishings whisper of the former splendor of this room.

Out of Aisle

Out of Aisle by eholubow

Wow. After I saw this photo and visited the location, I have to say that Eric really has done a wonderful job teasing the color out of this setting.

Untitled by farenough

No more fun will be had at this amusement park.

Lace Company

Lace Company by Filth City

I’m a sucker for bowling. The simple geometric balance of this photo is a great addition to American Urbex group.

Lace Factory

Lace Factory by hoodwatch

Awesome shot guys! I’m glad to see your not exploring these places alone. I would really like to shoot at a bowling alley sometime.

From the Flickr Pool

American Urbex has a Flickr group to share photos from your urban explorations. We’re also on Twitter, the Facebook, and iTunes. Once we figure out how Google+ works, maybe we’ll be there too. In any case here are some of the more interesting recent uploads to the Flickr group. Great work urbex photographers!

Hell's Gate

Hell’s Gate by Aperture Annie.

Last One.  I Swear.

Last One. I Swear. by Swizzler.

Haynes Automobile Factory

Haynes Automobile Factory by JJACOBSphotography.

Abandoned City Methodist Church. Stained glass windows closeup. HDR.  Gary, Indiana.

Abandoned City Methodist Church by slworking2.

Poor Bugs

Poor Bugs by MikeAdamsPhotos.

American Urbex Group Shots

American Urbex has a group on Flickr. Please join and share your beautiful urban exploration photos with the group!

Facebook? Oh, we have that too. We’ve also got one of those Twitter feeds you kids are all excited about.

Reminiscence in Color

Reminiscence in Color by infinite.magic.

Diamond Windows

Diamond Windows by JJACOBSphotography.

Untitled by polyurethanewheels.

Inside color

Inside Color by Nick Forslund.

Complacency

Complacency by Swizzler.

Interview with Brandon Davis

American Urbex put out the call for interviews and Brandon Davis answered. The Cleveland area amateur photographer has been urbexing for about three years now. Like other urbex photographers, he has become enraptured by the effects of decay.

Michigan Central Station (29)

AU: What is it about urbex that attracts you?

BD: Abandoned buildings, to me, are a part of history that is being lost little by little each day.  Each structure I step into is like a step back into time. Its interesting to stand and imagine where people sat or worked on that very floor. I enjoy documenting the way human and natural elements have caused each building to decay in such interesting ways. Urbex locations are all places that local cities have forgotten about, just left to rot into the ground. In some cases, this can be a very sad thing. Old buildings have beautiful and amazing architectural qualities. Its surprising that building owners and city officials could just leave them behind.

AU: What was the first urbex location you visited?

BD: The first urbex site I ever explored was the old U.S. Coast Guard Station in Cleveland, OH. This structure is right on Lake Erie and has a very unique design. I also knew some of the history about the building. It had been abandoned since the late 1980’s after the coast guard moved its operations to the other side of the city. The building was also converted into a restaurant for a short while after that. I knew that the inside would probably be just as interesting as the outside, so I was determined to go check it out. The exterior was full of NO TRESPASSING signs and boards, but me and my friend found a way in through an open window.

New Paint Job

Once we were inside the building, I got my first glimpse at the peeling paint and rotting floors that are typical for abandoned structures. It amazed me that such decay could happen in a building and it made me want capture it just as I saw it, with an interesting and artistic view. I have returned to the Coast Guard Station many times since my first visit. My photos of this location have gotten better and better each time.

AU: What is one of the most interesting items you have found urbexing?

BD: On one of those return visits [to the U.S. Coast Guard Station] I found an old menu for The Island, which is the name of the restaurant that occupied the building after the Coast Guard left. The paper menu was discolored and crumbling, much like the interior of the building. I liked finding this item because it showed firsthand the life and history this building had. It also gave the location a special character and made me appreciate it that much more.

The Island Menu

AU: What sort of gear do you bring with you when you go urbexing?

BD: When I go out to explore places, I bring my Sony A-100 and Sony A-300 along with a 2.8 aperture, 28 mm. Minolta lens, and a Sony 75-300 telephoto zoom lens. I enjoy these cameras because they perform great in low-light situations, which occur in most abandoned locations. I am also very familiar with the controls on Sony cameras, so I can have excellent control over what I want to capture.

Along with the camera gear, I also bring a flashlight or two, and a good pair of gloves. Typically I go out urbex shooting with a group of friends. I like to keep the crew number to three or four, which I’ve found is a great number of people to join me on a shoot. A larger group has the risk of causing a scene, or making too much noise.

AU: What is your worst urbex experience?

BD: My worst urbex experiences come when I try hard to gain access to a building but find that there is no way in.  In one particular case, I was trying to explore an office building in Cleveland with one of my friends. This office building was right next to an active news station, so we had to be very careful. I had been to this location before and this was a return visit. After successfully getting inside the fence, we checked all sides of the building and couldn’t find a single way in. The door I entered the first time was now locked.  We spend about 45 minutes trying to get in and ended up wasting all that time for nothing. Situations like these occur every once in a while for me, and they are always extremely frustrating.

Thanks to Brandon for answering some questions for American Urbex and being the interview guinea pig prototype. Getting a wide variety of urbex perspectives is essential for casting urbex in a positive light. If you would like to share your experiences, please answer the call.

From the Flickr Pool

American Urbex has a Flickr group. Add your photos to the pool and it may be featured here.

Aviation big time

Photo: Lusker 41 captures the remains of the United States Military Industrial Complex.

Epic Morning Light

Photo: bpdphotography proves he’s not a vampire and faces the morning sunlight to capture this shot.

Cairo Illinois

Photo: JJACOBSphotography explores the bleak wasting of Cairo, Illinois.

The jewish 1970's hotel

Photo: Bart of urban-travel.org finds some fascinating wallpaper in an old hotel.