The Urbex Bug

I'm not sure when the urbex bug bit me, but I do know that I am absolutely obsessed with discovering and exploring all things abandoned. If you're not familiar with the term urbex, it's shorthand for urban exploration. According to Wikipedia: 

"Urban exploration is the exploration of manmade structures, usually abandoned ruins or hidden components of the manmade environment. Photography and historical interest/documentation are heavily featured in the hobby and it sometimes involves trespassing onto private property." 

Nothing in my childhood, college or childrearing years---no distant-long-lost-memories---provide any clues as to why I am so deeply moved by these explorations. As a young girl growing up in Bristol, Connecticut, I wasn't enamored by my weekly history class, nor did any field trips hold my interest. 

A few years ago, I happened upon a Facebook post by a regional pair of photographers who were offering a photography workshop at the vintage Victory Theater in Holyoke, Massachusetts. That Saturday morning outing became the first of many more explorations. Since that time, I have journeyed with them to old abandoned mill buildings, schools, a state hospital, nightclub, boys' detention center and one homestead (contents still in place). And it's not just abandoned buildings that steal my heart; I love photographing vintage automobiles like the ones I discovered at Old Car City USA in White, Georgia in 2015 on my cross country book tour. Old Car City USA just happens to be the world's largest old car junkyard on 34 acres with more than 4,000 old cars. (Special thanks to fellow photographers and explorers, Hazel and Dave Meredith, who tipped me off.)

I go out, not just to explore, but to document my discoveries digitally. And while not the norm, I confess, I have on a few occasions trespassed onto private property (state property in the case of the Norwich Hospital in Connecticut). But generally, my outings are with other urban explorers and photographers, and while not all locations are urban, we are there legally, with the permission of the owners, and in the age of a worldwide pandemic---Covid-compliant. 

As a writer, as an avid reader, perhaps my fascination lies in the stories abandoned properties and relics hint at. After all, every picture tells a story.