Limited Edition Series: 20

One of the things I most enjoy about photographing such old relics of society is the history behind the architecture – stories told not only by the style of building and type of business, but also by the remnants and relics left behind by those who once toiled, worshipped, or slept within these spaces.

Traditionally, I research each location I shoot to get some idea of its past before heading out as I find it helps me connect with and understand the building’s presence within the community and the circumstances of its demise. The more I immerse myself in the aesthetics of the building and the remnants therein, I find in myself a need to understand the entirety of my subject and not just the context in which I am shooting. Questions come to mind such as “who where the people who interacted with this place?” and “why did these people leave?”, or “what was this place like when it was alive with activity?”

But how to get that across in my photography?

A good photograph tells a story and these stories are present in landscape photos, architectural photos, portraits, street scenes, or whatever you choose to shoot. Sometimes they can be harder to find but making you contemplate, think, and discuss, I think, is also a goal of any art.

Through urban exploration photography, I’m already exploring the concepts of impermanence, deconstruction, industrial evolution and devolution, and strive to convey these ideas in a way that educates, informs, and engages. How to enhance the story?

After a long process of trial and error and experimentation – which is always encouraged in art – I started this new project that blends time periods, allowing the viewer to see the location in its present state of decay while glimpsing what might have been. This Constructive Deconstruction allows nature (and sometimes people) to deconstruct for me while I construct it back the only way I can – not through brick and mortar, but through history and imagery and storytelling.

I’ll be working on this one as long as I find suitable locations to apply the technique to – which at this time means as long as spaces are forgotten by society and I can hold a camera.

Additional images in my “Experimental” gallery.