Tag Archives: Interview

American Urbex E.24 – Kelly McClung / Altered

Kely McClung talks about his upcoming film Altered, the challenges of indie filmmaking, and the creative forces that drive him.

Altered – Official Website
Altered – IMDB Page
Altered – Facebook Page

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American Urbex on Flickr
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American Urbex E.21 – Ryan Tretow

Ryan Tretow shares his insights into Milwaukee architecture, urban exploration, and his approach to photography.

Be sure to check out Ryan Tretow’s Flickr photostream.

James Blücher (a.k.a. Filth City) responds to Jake Dillard’s question about urbexers who use film. Excellent photos James!

American Urbex Meetup

Are you new to urbex or a seasoned pro? I want to interview you! Come talk urbex on May 13, 2012 from 10am to 12pm. Meet up at City United Methodist Church in Gary, Indiana. Let American Urbex know if you definitely want to be interviewed by visiting the Facebook event page.

Subscribe to the American Urbex Podcast on iTunes and YouTube.

American Urbex on Flickr
American Urbex on Facebook
American Urbex on Twitter

American Urbex E.20 – Officer Sacco

Officer Sacco discusses a confrontation the host had with some security guards, photographer’s rights, and other urbex considerations.

American Urbex Meetup

Are you new to urbex or a seasoned pro? I want to interview you! Come talk urbex on May 13, 2012 from 10am to 12pm. Meet up at City United Methodist Church in Gary, Indiana. Let American Urbex know if you definitely want to be interviewed by visiting the Facebook event page.

Take a moment to donate to American Urbex: Southern Slide.

Subscribe to the American Urbex Podcast on iTunes and YouTube.

American Urbex on Flickr
American Urbex on Facebook
American Urbex on Twitter

American Urbex E.19 – Under MKE

Robert Burns talks about his underground explorations, creative tools, and fascinating discoveries.

Robert Burns, aka Under MKE, on Flickr.
The Under MKE book on Blurb.

Support the Milwaukee art scene by visiting Redline Milwaukee online or in person.

If you are in Milwaukee be sure to check out Ryan Tretow’s exhibition Urban Decay: Ruins of a Modern Time at Rogue’s Gallery coming April 20, 2012.

If you are in Chicago do not miss Eric Holubow’s exhibition In Decay: Stitching America’s Ruins at the Chicago Cultural Center from March 31 to July 8, 2012.

Take a moment to donate to American Urbex: Southern Slide.

Subscribe to the American Urbex Podcast on iTunes and YouTube.

American Urbex on Flickr
American Urbex on Facebook
American Urbex on Twitter

Finding Your Old House on American Urbex

The Abandoned

In 2007 I explored a fascinating abandoned farmhouse on the outskirts of Waupun, Wisconsin. There was a great amount of personal effects left behind: keys, a social security card, letter correspondence, checks, etcetera. How someone could leave all this behind was just baffling. Trying to figure out the riddle appealed to my senses and furthered my interest in urbex.

In May, 2010 I wrote about my experience at the farmhouse here on American Urbex. I even used the house as a backdrop for a few shots in a video I produced for a grad course. In the few years since first stumbling across the farmhouse I have been casually looking for the owner of the correspondence I found. The search yielded a few positive results, but nothing that would actually lead me to the person I was looking for. Imagine my surprise when this comment shows up in my moderation queue.

“Why do you want to know about the old house I grew up in?”

I was floored by the response and shot out an e-mail to the commenter immediately. Within minutes I received a reply in my inbox confirming that, yes, she was the person I was looking for. After more than two years of searching the person I was looking for found American Urbex. We exchanged phone numbers and she agreed to an interview.

Bedroom

Joanne Appleget is married and goes by a different name these days. She is doing quite well for herself and still lives in Wisconsin. While doing a search she came across some of the photos I had tagged with her name. That led her to American Urbex and my Flickr set.

Joanne confirmed that she did in fact live in the farmhouse until around 1986 when she left for college. After moving out her parents lived there for a while longer. Eventually the insurance company refused to renew policies on the home. The home was heated by two gas space heaters, which the insurance company deemed to dangerous. After Joanne’s parents moved the house was used primarily for storage.

Doorway

Break-ins to the unguarded home started occurring with relative frequency after the family left. The Appleget family reported the thefts to police, but little could be done after the fact. Items of value started disappearing with greater frequency with the expansion of the 151 highway. Joanne recounted how a construction crew leader was asked about the abandoned home, and said that people could help themselves to whatever was inside since the home was abandoned. Scavengers took all that they could; metal, wiring, tiles, tapestries, even the columns holding the porch roof up.

I had falsely concluded after my first visit that someone in the home was diabetic due to the number of supplies I had found on my exploration of the farmhouse. Joanne confirmed that over the years the house was used by teens for parties and other people who may have brought things in. The rotting piles of junk in the house are now the property of new owners who purchased the land a year ago. New bright orange trespassing signs now adorn the outsides of the house.

Is Elvis Alive

Doing research on urbex locations is something I thoroughly enjoy. Finding dates, times, historical factoids and melding them with compelling visual images is easy with Google. What I’ve come to realize with talking to Joanne is that there is another element that often goes unrecorded. It is the impressions of a place and the emotions that they invoke that is only palpable by talking to someone. I could tell by our conversation that the farmhouse brought back a range of emotions. I’m especially grateful that she took the time to share a bit of personal history with American Urbex.

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.