Urbex in Large Format

[F64]

Though I dislike the term "urbex", here we go

Villa Romantica, Italy

Cambo 470 Superwide w/ 4x5 Ilford FP4+

[bgh]

I too dislike the term "urbex," since my goals are oriented toward documentation and preservation, not exploration. However, the nature of my work often has me in historic buildings that have seen significant decay, though I enter them always with permission (and, in this case, with the City's Building Inspector, whose job was to keep from walking in areas where the floor was ready to collapse). As a result, when I was still active on Instagram, urbex folks often found me.

This is one from a volunteer project that I did earlier this year, photographing the buildings on the Preservation League of New York State's Seven to Save list. This the Arcade Building in Jamestown, once a glorious commercial space on Main Street and now sadly deteriorating. When I saw this scene, I knew that it would not be one for the exhibit (which just opened in Albany, by the way), but I recall thinking "Huh. This is an urbex kind of scene, I'll give it a try." Lighting clearly was a challenge, but it does at least give some sense for the setting.

Thanks for starting the thread.

Bruce


4x5, Sinar F1, 90mm Fujinon
TMAX400, processed in Sprint, scanned on Epson v750

[F64]

@gypsydog: for lack of a better term, I guess. In Italian I would use "abbandoni" which is not mainstream and loosely translates to "abandonments", which seems even worse than urbex. But I am open to suggestions...

[Corran]

This thread made me reminisce on my project from a while ago documenting an old cotton mill that was being torn down. Here's a collection of 4x5 images from inside the mill at various times during the demolition - the first one here was taken with my 47mm XL:

[Corran]

And these were all w/ my Nikkor 90mm f/8:

[bgh]

Bryan--

These are terrific, well done. I'm glad that you were able to photograph this building. So many of these places go away without anyone paying any attention to them.

Bruce

And these were all w/ my Nikkor 90mm f/8:

[F64]

Old and new
On the right what remains of the Westinghouse plant (brakes and parts for trains), formerly Rapid cars company. On the left, the obvious ensuing real estate speculation (horror vacui)

Maleficwares Malefic 4x5 w. Grandagon 90 and 4x5 Ilford FP4

[F64]

Decommissioned boilers (I)
Cambo 470 wide w/ FP4+

[chassis]

Decommissioned boilers (I)
Cambo 470 wide w/ FP4+

This one works best for me Giovanni, well done.

[Steven Ruttenberg]

Decommissioned boilers (I)
Cambo 470 wide w/ FP4+

Very nice. Kinda eerie too. Reminds of a show I was watching on the History Channel about the men who built America. Morgan, Chase, Rockefeller...