Urbex Photography
Quick visit to Fort 7
12 Jul 2009 09:53
Didn’t have time to enter the main building so
made some quick snaps from the outside, there
weren’t that many photo’s and I had
forgotten about them. That’s why I post them
this late.
Train graveyards!
11 Jul 2009 20:18
Yes, I [finally] put my galleries online of train
graveyards. There are more train graveyards
around then you would think, with people being
able to fly easily with sites like
Fly.com, there is
becoming less use for some old train lines. Trains
and trainstations still have that little bit of
romantic nostalgia about them from the old days,
think steam trains, Orient Express etc...
I visited two trainyards for the moment:
I visited two trainyards for the moment:
Cheratte Hasard revisited
11 Jul 2009 19:04
I made a revisit to Cheratte, a place took
photographs of many years ago. The buildings
haven’t changed but it’s not the same
anymore. Cheratte must be one of those
“landmark” urbex places that everyone
“needs to have visited”. Surely I think
thousands have been there by now. I still remember
the very first time I entered the building in 2003.
Not much graphitti or any other indication of recent
visitors other than the people who last shut the door
when they closed down the mine.
The contrast with today could not be bigger: many have left their markings on the walls, many artifacts I remember were gone and during the 4 hours we spent on site, we encountered 2 German photography groups, a Dutch photographer with 2 models, A bunch of kids with camera’s shooting in the mid tower and last but not least: about 15-20 fully combat dressed guys who were playing a wargame! It’s not the serene place to shoot pictures it once was
In a way this is a pity, but I still enjoyed the time spent there, although I realise for me it will be the last visit.
Because of the revisit, I decided the just redo the old gallery as well, removed some images and added the new ones.
The contrast with today could not be bigger: many have left their markings on the walls, many artifacts I remember were gone and during the 4 hours we spent on site, we encountered 2 German photography groups, a Dutch photographer with 2 models, A bunch of kids with camera’s shooting in the mid tower and last but not least: about 15-20 fully combat dressed guys who were playing a wargame! It’s not the serene place to shoot pictures it once was
In a way this is a pity, but I still enjoyed the time spent there, although I realise for me it will be the last visit.
Because of the revisit, I decided the just redo the old gallery as well, removed some images and added the new ones.
Val Saint Lambert
11 Jul 2009 18:42
Yes, this is the original factory where they made the
famous cristals from Val Saint Lambert. This old part
is abandoned, but the rest of the plant is still in
operation.
Preventorium Dolhain
11 Jul 2009 18:35
This place has served several purposes. It was a
sanatorium for children back in the days and also
served as sort of a big atelier for several artists.
An old firetruck is parked in front. I have seldom
seen so much crap dumped in a building. I
didn’t take any pictures of it, it was a waste
of megapixels
Zeche Hugo
11 Jul 2009 17:42
Hugo is much like many other mines from that period.
What interested me in particular in this place though
was the locker rooms where workers used to hang their
clothes on metal cages that were hoisted to the
ceiling. One can only image the smell
I didn’t visit the rest of the site besides this locker because it photographically wasn’t much different from most ordinary abandoned factories [and we were also on a schedule...]
I didn’t visit the rest of the site besides this locker because it photographically wasn’t much different from most ordinary abandoned factories [and we were also on a schedule...]
Villa Victoria Stift
11 Jul 2009 17:35
This place seemed to be a sanatorium at a certain
stage, but I don’t know much else about it.
Much of the large villa is ceiled off and in the
surrounding buildings there is not much to see
anymore.
Panacolor Studio's
11 Jul 2009 17:11
Panacolor studio’s [as it is generally known]
was a very sophisticated sound synchronisation studio
build right after the second world war. The studio
was also used for the voice-overs in German language
of foreign films. It was abandoned in the late
90’s and to this day most of the equipment is
still there!
Unfortunately when we arrived, there was already a “posse” of 5 people inside taking pictures. It was much too crowded for my taste so I didn’t get to shoot the pictures I was looking after. We cleared the area after about a bit more than 2 hours. I heard the other photographers stayed there all day.
Unfortunately when we arrived, there was already a “posse” of 5 people inside taking pictures. It was much too crowded for my taste so I didn’t get to shoot the pictures I was looking after. We cleared the area after about a bit more than 2 hours. I heard the other photographers stayed there all day.
Volklinger Hutte Revisit
11 Jul 2009 17:02
A few years ago during the winter period I visited
Volklinger Hutte. This former
mamoth steel factory was build in the second
half of the 19th century and I believe it must
have been one of the biggest of its kind. The
biggest part of the site is reconverted for
public access and is now part of the industrial
heritage. During the first visit we only shot
the inside of the Boiler Room. During the second
visit now we walked around public parts in the
factory. Well only part of it actually, because
the site is in fact too big to visit in detail
in one day.
Urbex update: Chateau de Seraing
04 Jul 2009 19:00
On a trip trough the Liege area, we came across this
abandoned castle. We saw the towers through the
treeline from the distance and it looked really
promising. But unfortunately it had been in decay for
quite some time. Add the odd fire now and then...
Urbex update: Terre Rouge Luxembourg
10 May 2009 00:23
I visited the Centrale Thermique building at the
Terre Rouge site during last winter. It was a great
site, the pipe structures on the inside are really
special, it resembles a giant metallic spagetti
sometimes. In a certain way it was quite an urbex
photographer’s heaven so I put quite some
images online:
Cemetery update: Maastricht
08 May 2009 20:12
Placed some images online from the Cemetery in
Maastricht, Netherlands.
Forges de Clabecq
27 Nov 2008 21:10
Yes!
Another urbex update: visited Steel plant Forges de Clabecq. Half of this factory is now ready for demolition, part of it is already gone as you will notice from some images. This plant was not abandoned that long ago. There is still electricity and running water at some locations!
Update added to the section Urban Exploration Belgium.
Another urbex update: visited Steel plant Forges de Clabecq. Half of this factory is now ready for demolition, part of it is already gone as you will notice from some images. This plant was not abandoned that long ago. There is still electricity and running water at some locations!
Update added to the section Urban Exploration Belgium.
Sinteranlage Duisburg
15 Nov 2008 14:25
I took these images on a trip to Duisburg somewhere
beginning 2008. Finally I’ve put them online.
Forgot I had these lying around.
The “not abandoned” castle...
23 Jul 2008 22:35
I don’t know the name of this place. We passed
by it while visiting the Chateau Heers mentioned
below.
It was definitely not empty and there was a dog barking behind the doors of one of the adjacent buildings, a point at which I decided probably not to attempt to go in. Well urbex is all good and well, but breaking and entering is another thing... so just some impressions of the outside of the place which I added to the Heers gallery. [didn’t feel it was enough to warrant it’s own gallery]
It was definitely not empty and there was a dog barking behind the doors of one of the adjacent buildings, a point at which I decided probably not to attempt to go in. Well urbex is all good and well, but breaking and entering is another thing... so just some impressions of the outside of the place which I added to the Heers gallery. [didn’t feel it was enough to warrant it’s own gallery]
Added Chateau Heers Urban gallery
20 Jul 2008 14:01
Another one I had lying in the closet...
Some months ago I was looking for a castle in decay, it was also aired on TV for the program Jambers a while back. The owners still live there. Sad story actually: about a wealthy family gone bankrupt. Problems started for them back during one [or both] of the WWO’s and the Germans confiscated most of their properties back in Poland.
Found the castle and also met the inhabitants! They were friendly enough to let us in and take some pictures but only in the courtyard. I did take some pictures from inside a hallway but actually they were pretty crappy so I didn’t put them online. Not many pictures then and mostly from the outside. Besides the front port, you can’t get in... Piss ‘em off and they’ll sure call the cops!
Some impressions though [go to the gallery]
Some months ago I was looking for a castle in decay, it was also aired on TV for the program Jambers a while back. The owners still live there. Sad story actually: about a wealthy family gone bankrupt. Problems started for them back during one [or both] of the WWO’s and the Germans confiscated most of their properties back in Poland.
Found the castle and also met the inhabitants! They were friendly enough to let us in and take some pictures but only in the courtyard. I did take some pictures from inside a hallway but actually they were pretty crappy so I didn’t put them online. Not many pictures then and mostly from the outside. Besides the front port, you can’t get in... Piss ‘em off and they’ll sure call the cops!
Some impressions though [go to the gallery]
Added Holland Urban gallery
17 Jul 2008 19:27
After some radio silence, I thought this would be an
appropriate update: an empty radio station from the
early 1920’s in Holland also known as Radio
Kootwijk.
Unfortunately I was not able to take any pictures from the inside, although that probably would be worthwile... The outside however also provided a nice view. Completely located in the middle of nowhere. Not many pictures, but nice ones from the main tower IMO.
Unfortunately I was not able to take any pictures from the inside, although that probably would be worthwile... The outside however also provided a nice view. Completely located in the middle of nowhere. Not many pictures, but nice ones from the main tower IMO.
Ellis Island Ghosts
24 Mar 2008 17:55
Found this site when doodling on the Internet:
http://ellisislandghosts.com/
Urbex photography with a professional touch to it... nice.
[it certainly does help when the place you're visiting has this rich and "loaded" history as this one.
Urbex photography with a professional touch to it... nice.
[it certainly does help when the place you're visiting has this rich and "loaded" history as this one.
Another one down the drain...
16 Sep 2007 12:44
Proof that Beringen Coalmine is a dangerous place to
wander about... I guess we don't need it anymore.
Over time more and more news bulletins mention people
falling through ceilings etc... whether they be urbex
photographers or just plain old copper thieves.
An update - Baviere Hospital!
18 May 2007 00:48
Amazing, at last a new update. I managed to find some
time to put this tidbit online. We visited Baviere a
while ago, can't exactly remember the date but it was
a sunny afternoon for sure [as you will see in the
pictures]. We were let in by the friendly people
living there and we had company from their dog all
the time. You see him in one of the images. I was
always afraid he would lift his leg against my tripod
go directly to it : Baviere Hospital
go directly to it : Baviere Hospital

Car Graveyard Chatillon is online
27 Jan 2007 00:20
It's a cemetery already visited several times by
other urbexers and afficionado's of the genre. It was
a real pleasure taking pictures here because of the
serene atmosphere there. The light on one side of
this long row of forgotten automobile dreams is
filtered through tall pine trees which give the
lighting a specific photographic quality. Furthermore
it's quiet and calm and I also have no idea if there
is an owner of this place. Probably there is, I don't
think we have much "unclaimed" land here in Belgium.
But considering its location on top of a slope
surrounded by trees and bushes it might very well be
there still for years and years to come.
enjoy
On my first trip over there my friend Tom accompanied
me. Since he is living in Berlin, it was one of those
rare occasions when the man was in Belgium. I have
also put his pictures online, you can find them
here.
Castle of Meesen tidbit
07 Jan 2007 13:45
I recently found out by reading a book from Friedl'
Lesage that famous Flemish defence Litigator Jef
Vermassen has his office in a restaurated part of the
castle [well a separated 'portiers huis' actually but
it was part of the castle domain. Jef Vermassen is an
art lover and he mentions he doesn't want to be
around the office the day they start with the
official destruction. We all can sympathise with that
can't we?
Just a tidbit for those of you who didn't know...
Just a tidbit for those of you who didn't know...
Etel Boat Graveyard is online
27 Dec 2006 19:23
When on a short vacation in Brittany France, I passed
by the site of Etel where a few old shipwrecks are
lying alongside the shore of the river. I believe
many photographers who know about the place have
visited already because it sure allows for some
fantastic images. For this session I opted mostly for
the black and white variants because of artistical
beauty with the subject.
Some new updates for the urban section
26 May 2006 01:51
Together with the site redesign some new Urban sites
have made it online, these were a few places I
visited during the last half of 2005 and beginning
2006.
You'll find the following new sites in the Urban section:
* La Chartreuse
* Volklinger Hutte [Germany]
* Anco
* Beeringen Charbonnages
* Wintercircus Gent
* Cinema Theatre Variete Jumet
* SFPO Boulogne Sur Mer [France]
* EDF Pont Sur Sambre [France]
* Another Car Graveyard
* Trainstation Montzen
You'll find the following new sites in the Urban section:
* La Chartreuse
* Volklinger Hutte [Germany]
* Anco
* Beeringen Charbonnages
* Wintercircus Gent
* Cinema Theatre Variete Jumet
* SFPO Boulogne Sur Mer [France]
* EDF Pont Sur Sambre [France]
* Another Car Graveyard
* Trainstation Montzen





















