Urban Explorers

[Searay215]

Not sure if this particular site has been posted although the subject certainly has been. But I saw this on WDIV last night and thought I would post about it.
These people like most of us photogs love to go into these abandon places to take photographs. I have always been facinated with this subject and thought I would share this site with all of you.

http://urbanexplorers.net/

It covers not only Detroit but places around the world. Personally I love the ghost towns out west, it as if the people just got up and walked away. Mostly from the late 1800's see my photos of Nevadaville in Colorado. Its an old gold mining town....

http://parrino.smugmug.com/Other/Den...94057172_3gywJ

[brainwizzard]

wow im surprised nobody replied yet reminding everybody that trespassing is illegal. Not that i intend to do that, but it just seems that anytime anybody posts anything urban exploration related, somebody feels the need to say that.

[staticstate]

I drive without a seatbelt. I just felt like confessing.

[LodgeDodger]

Not only is it illegal, it is also dangerous. Feel free to bitch about what a downer I am.

[Whitehouse]

Not only is it illegal, it is also dangerous. Feel free to bitch about what a downer I am.

We know you're right.....


...but you never miss an opportunity to bitch!

[Pam]

these abandon places

Abandoned places.

[Ray1936]

Passing posts past Pam prior to proofreading presents problems for the poster.

[reddog289]

Good one Ray. I have thought about doing some urban exploring, But I will leave that to the real explorers and view the pics on the net.

[Baselinepunk]

Get permission and sign a liability wavier; you're good to go in my book when you play by the rules regarding this situation. Illegally tresspass; I have no sympthay for what happens to ya.

[Searay215]

Abandoned places.

'
Thank you Teacher Pam.....can I go now I have to do a number 2 on your posts....

[mikefmich]

Not only is it illegal, it is also dangerous. Feel free to bitch about what a downer I am.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz OH sorry, I feel asleep. What did you say?

[mikefmich]

So who is the king/queen and crown princes/princesses of Detroit urban explorers?

[Lowell]

"I drive without a seatbelt. I just felt like confessing."

I drove 10 miles over the speed limit on the Lodge today -- to keep from being overrun. Just thought I would confess too.

[mikefmich]

"I drive without a seatbelt. I just felt like confessing."

I drove 10 miles over the speed limit on the Lodge today -- to keep from being overrun. Just thought I would confess too.

So.....you Dodged on the Lodge, Lowell?

[wolverine]

It's definitely dangerous. Part of my past job was going in these buildings to take measurements to prepare as-built drawings for renovation. Risk of long falls or going crashing through a floor are pretty low, but a rusty screw sticking out is more likely to stab you and create some nasty infections.

I don't think debating the legality of it is really necessary. Everyone knows it's illegal. Every urban explorer knows what they are doing is illegal. The question is "Should we care?" If you side with the building owners, you must be complacent with the state of things around you....I'm talking burned out factories, rotting homes, and collapsing apartment buildings. Do you respect that property owners rights, or do you say, screw'em, I care more about photographing this building then some slumlord in the suburbs. I think urban exploration gets a bad rap because people confuse it with vandalism.

I'm beginning to think the general public's opinions have changed of it. You already see the media outlets glorifying it and to see modern ruins is definitely an eye opener that will interest anyone....but hey someone has to get the photos. And with the fact that tickets aren't being issued left and right, maybe we shouldn't care.

If you want to keep the photographers out, then lock the doors and cover the windows. Your problem is a highly local and only unique to Detroit. It's because the rest of the world knows how to secure a building. It's because the rest of the world knows Detroit does not know how to secure a building.

[sumas]

I agree with Searay, ghost towns are facinating. I am not a photographer and do not enter abandoned buildings. I lived out west for a bit and these abandoned villages were seared into my memory. I also loved the names of these places. My favorite was Salome Where She Danced.

[Pam]

Thank you Teacher Pam.....can I go now

Only after you write a sentence using abandoned and copy it 100 times.

[Lowell]

You make good points Wolverine, but the legality issue is often gray and definitely debatable. This is because there commonly is no clear demarcation between public and abandoned properties, that is the property is not sealed or fenced and / or posted with no trespassing signs.

What is less debatable is that the property owners are in violation of both building codes and public safety statutes. A extreme example of this is if a kid wanders onto your property, falls in your unfenced swimming pool and drowns, who is at fault?

I guess I look at exploring as two wrongs making a right. However I do urge great caution to all and to, as I do, wear a hard hat with a light and steel shank and toe shoes and only take away pictures. I also think one should not enter sealed and /or posted properties. One should also accept any consequences of their actions without whining.

[Searay215]

Only after you write a sentence using abandoned and copy it 100 times.

Ah Pam.....a true woman, that only reads part of what was written or hears only what she wants to hear. You should run for office or become a journalist...both of which take bits and pieces of what people say and use it the way they want.

And now back to our subject.....here are a couple of links for those of you that may be facinated by abandoned places.

http://www.offroaders.com/album/cent...ed_Places.html

http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/mi/mi.html

At the last site you can search for ghost towns anywhere in the US. Have fun!!

[English]

Welcome to Detroit, Michigan... once mighty, now a ghost town filled with ruins.

I've loved Shelley's "Ozymandias" ever since I first read it in high school. I'm pretty sure I've posted it here before. I immediately think of Detroit whenever I'm reminded of it these days...

"I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away."

I'm very interested in preservation and architecture, but many present-day Detroiters aren't and wish that it would all be torn down and replaced with mid-to-late 20th century suburban subdivisions and office parks.

Who can blame them? Look, it's not a matter of willful neglect of what those before them built on most people's part [[although I've read that on DYes before), it's that many current Detroiters feel completely disconnected to Detroit's past. Far too many ancestors of current Detroiters were made to feel that they were IN the city, but not OF it. They were not allowed to have a stake in the glory and the grandeur, but lived on the much-celebrated margins of it. When those who were here before departed to seek a home elsewhere, one can't blame those left behind for not genuflecting to the empty buildings [[no matter how grand) or forlorn monuments [[no matter how worthy). I completely disagree with this mindset, but many feel that the preservationists don't care enough about pressing social issues [[poverty, homelessness, crime, neglect, child/teen abuse, etc).

I think urban explorers should have a go at it. Take your pics, make your documentaries, and continue to tell our stories. Just be safe and be as legal as you can be... I'm more interested in the dispossessed, not property owners who have allowed their buildings to get in this state in the first place.

[Gistok]

Ah Pam.....a true woman, that only reads part of what was written or hears only what she wants to hear. You should run for office or become a journalist...both of which take bits and pieces of what people say and use it the way they want.

... or maybe... just maybe she... nor the rest of us care to hear about your bowel movement history....

[wolverine]

What is less debatable is that the property owners are in violation of both building codes and public safety statutes. A extreme example of this is if a kid wanders onto your property, falls in your unfenced swimming pool and drowns, who is at fault?

I guess I look at exploring as two wrongs making a right. However I do urge great caution to all and to, as I do, wear a hard hat with a light and steel shank and toe shoes and only take away pictures. I also think one should not enter sealed and /or posted properties. One should also accept any consequences of their actions without whining.

Exactly. The way owners let their properties rot is a crime in itself, and a slap in the face to the city. At the very least, urban explorers capture a part of the history before it's lost and gone forever. But it's still going in a place they aren't supposed to. Is it crime? Yes, although the chance of getting a ticket is highly unlikely. Should they have a guilty conscience? Absolutely not! They put no one else in danger except for themselves and as long as they are not stealing or vandalizing anything, what's the big deal. If they do end up getting a ticket, pay it and consider it the price you pay to enjoy exploring these places.

[Whitehouse]

Those who enforce ownership on the Packard plant, suddenly aren't owners when it comes to cleaning up the site...

[REL]

I have no problem with urban exploring, and I do it all the time in my car.

But when you enter property without the consent of the owner, it is TRESPASSING and illegal.

I love looking at the pics, but don't like it when people post them on the 'net because it glamorizes the crime and provides a blueprint for vandals. "Hey, everybody!!! Look!!! The Vanity Ballroom's open!! I got some awesome footage. Oh, check it out, I even showed which door to go through." DB.

[Stosh]

You all should know what I think about this by now, so I won't bore you with the lecture.

From what I've seen, is an extremely large amount of energy expended on taking photographs and little to no energy expended working toward restoration or preservation. Or, creating websites that repeat the same shit and views, which serve no purpose other than to offer other cretins the roadmap in.

The history of these ruins already has been documented by others, and in far better condition, as in when they were being used. There's no need to take pictures of the corpse.