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I discovered urban exploration at the end of years 2000 through rooftops, subways, and the city's unofficial catacombs. At that time, I found another subject for interesting photos: documenting the unseen side of the city. Climbing roofs to see the city from the top, going at night in subway tunnels or spend whole days underground in the catacombs exploring the tens of kilometers of galleries looking for beautifully carved rooms: I found a thrill in that activity, the adrenaline that I have been looking for in everything I do in my life.

Roaming in abandoned places looking for graffiti, I came to realize the intensity of the atmospheres and the beauty of the spectacle of time passaging: rust, decaying and peeling painted wall, broken windows, natural forces taking back to create unbelievable sceneries that were stunningly photogenic. For me, all that urban decay appeared as infinite poetry.

More info: Facebook | Instagram | Instagram | jonk-photography.com

Today, five years after, I have visited more than seven hundred of these beautiful places in more than thirty countries on four continents.

With time, my interest has concentrated on what appeared to me to be the strongest, the most original element in this vast subject of abandonment: mother nature taking back its habitat. It is poetic, even magic, to see nature retaking what used to be hers, reintegrating through broken windows, cracks on the walls, spaces built by Man and then neglected, until sometimes guzzling them entirely.

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    #3

    I Travel The World To Capture Amazing Pictures Of Nature Taking Back Abandoned Places

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    sharron lynn parsons
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    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is very interesting for sure, what seems to be statues in the back were left behind, not nice.

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    I Travel The World To Capture Amazing Pictures Of Nature Taking Back Abandoned Places

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    Agnes Jekyll
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    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Woah. This looks like a relatively recently built house (restaurant? hotel?)

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    Becky Reus
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    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    If you ignore the outside and to the right of the mirror, this one doesn't look in such a state of disrepair.

    Jonk
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Absolutely, if it was not for nature knocking at the window, I would not have posted that one.. too clean and recent ;-)

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    Sue Lynn Chan
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Don't you ever felt like dancing in these hall alone, with music in the background as you dance gracefully without being fear or someone judging your talent?

    Zachary Stephen
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    If you look at this photo from the other side of a room, it doesn't look abandoned at all.

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    I Travel The World To Capture Amazing Pictures Of Nature Taking Back Abandoned Places

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    Alexandru Bucur
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    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Heh. My first thought when I saw this picture was "Hmm, this looks like a Hungarian State Railways (MÁV) class 301"... And sure enough, it actually says on her "301,006" and Google pretty much confirmed my hunch that this picture was taken in Istvántelek railway repair shop, Budapest...

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    Bryan Richhart
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    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Amazing, the 2 floors above that piece of machinery fell and it is still there like nothing happened!

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    Debbie Barnes
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Whenever I see buildings like this, I just look at the potential of turning them into homes. The building looks structurally sound, so it's a shame it's just been abandoned.

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    #31

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    Hawk
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    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Why does the giant thing look like a Donald the Duck State that wants a hug?

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    Alexandru Bucur
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    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Waaait a second... that's the Pripyat amusement park... I like it that's the only picture from Chernobyl in this set instead of more recognisable ones, like the Ferris wheel or the pool.

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    CD Mills
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    What a beautiful door! Such a shame that it will rot away. Too bad someone hasn't rescued the door.

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    JustABobcat
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    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This looks like someone's bedroom. Took me a moment to figure out what it was.

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