mystery door
A mysterious door sits hidden amongst the spoil heaps of this disused open cast mine.
Despite being a wound on landscape, the spoil heaps are littered in these other worldly iridescent candy-coloured rocks. Brought up from the bowls in the hunt for copper, they are truly wonderful subjects.
anglesey Barracks
Dinorwic, a whole mountainside hollowed out in the pursuit of slate. A stark, desolate, hauntingly beautiful testament to man’s environmental impact.
The rich green growth on the oak’s boughs framed these derelict miner’s cottages. Nature reclaiming the quarry in the wake of industry.
I waited till light punched through the overcast blanket of grey, fleetingly illuminating the barracks and setting it apart from the gloom of the shaded mountains and spoil heaps.
DIVING BOARD
Resting between hand hewn walls of the slate lies this twisted abandoned crane. Another great example of the Lake District’s mining past.
A lovely textural subject, the orange rusting iron in stark contrast to the drab-grey-blue hues of the quarried slate walls.
The larches of the quarry’s far shoreline brought a pop of colour to the otherwise drab scene, which seemed fitting given the subject.
Reclamation
Cornwall is littered with the ruins of engine houses. For me, this might just be the most picturesque with its crenellated chimney, lichen and ivy coated walls.
A blanket of heather and wildflowers bloomed along the slag heaps leading to the foot of the mine. It looked as if the landscape was slowly reclaiming that which had been built upon it.
As the sun rose, it kissed the top of the engine house.
Sun Altar
The sun rose spreading a seriously intense glow across the rocks and ruin as I perched on this outcrop.
This crucible like formation made for excellent foreground, with the meandering boulders placed to draw the eye up the ruin to the outcrop.
I’d waited over a year to capture this, having sun and the ruin aligned. Nature did me a solid that morning
FROM A BUICK 6
Its tyres long since decayed, the chassis of this classic American car sits, rusting on its haunches whilst slowly being swallowed by the long dry desert grasses.
The car hasn’t moved since roughy 1920 when the last occupants of Bodie, now a remote ghost town in the Sierra Nevada mountains, left their worldly possessions and opted for greener pastures after the Gold Rush ended.
FALLEN ROOF RUIN
Time has taken its toll on this ancient Anasazi granary. The alcove over the ruin has slowly been splintering and collapsing since its occupants abandoned Cedar Mesa.
The weathering has created wonderful patterns in the rock above -- giving this granary it's moniker; Fallen Roof Ruin.
Light in this backcountry location is wonderful, sunlight bounces off the alcove floors, the incident rays creating deep oranges and yellows that can be glimpsed fleetingly before the sun climbs above the canyon walls.
White house ruin
This Anasazi grain store remains unchanged since it was abandoned in 1200 AD. Often nameless, and unmarked on maps, each ruin in the Grand Gulch appears to have it’s very own distinct features and personality.
Part of a larger remote backcountry ‘city’, this box like construction and oval entrance reminded me of a kiln for some reason. Faint paint daubs of primeval artwork can still be seen on the lower section, which contrasted immensely with the blood red of the morning’s reflected light on the alcove ceiling.
This light exists only for fleeting periods each day, which make for wonderful early morning hikes into these deep backcountry canyons.
house on fire
The sandstone fins in this alcove in Mule Canyon, give this Anasazi granary the appearance of a house on fire when the early morning sun reflects off the bottom of the alcove.
squashed granary
Anasazi ruins fascinate me. It’s an architecture built to fit seamlessly into the landscape, making use of its contours for protection.
This tiny granary is one of hundreds littering the alcoves of the Cedar Mesa, the towering alcove offering protection from the elements, yet seeming to bear all its weight onto the granary roof accounting for its stunted and diminutive form. Here the opposing canyon wall reflects the morning sun creating reflected light that bathes this granary and it's giant alcove in hues of red and yellow.
broken wing
I love abandoned things. They have a certain beauty; texture of decay; a sense of imbued history; a reminder of the impermanence of all things.
The prospect of visiting this abandoned plane wreck in the middle of a black sand strewn desert was just too good to pass up.
The ash coloured sand surrounding this silvery white plane wreck made for an instantly stark and surreal contrast.
mill #3
A long abandoned mill hidden amongst the last burst of Autumn.
The rusted weir made the perfect lead in, zig-zagging toward the derelict mill slowly disappearing into the woodland undergrowth.
I visited here many-many moons ago, been itching to revisit for the past few years since to frame these buildings against the full peak of Autumn.
mill #1
Another remnant of Cornwall’s industrial past slowly being submerged into undergrowth.
Originally built into the valley, the mill already looked as if it’s part of the landscape. And now with surrounding wood reclaiming the ruin, makes for such an interesting subject.
Shot a few weeks back, just as autumn was peaking. I absolutely love this place.
last supper
In the ghost town of Bodie, people's belongings lie unmoved for almost a century, preserved in the high desert air, a state of arrested decay. Inside this abandoned house, the table is eerily set as if for a final meal.
Thick dust blankets everything, desaturating the kitchen surfaces, its' monochrome complementing the subject and contrasting wonderfully with the early morning sun spilling onto the peeling kitchen wallpaper and old wooden chairs.
Hidden Mill
Tucked away in the Lake District lies this picturesque old watermill.
Mist and rain hung in the valley, shrouding the nearby peaks and lifting the mill wonderfully off the hills.
Soaked with rain, the beck was nicely in flow. It had the feel of peek Autumn with yellows and oranges and deep greens all around.
Sadly this mill is now restricted access due to social media. This chance might now come again.
iron coast
This rusting anchor is all that remains of a shipwreck on this desolate and dramatic coastline.
The surf was booming and the evening storm surge produced lovely texture and the tide height worked to ‘lift’ the anchor off the leges.
Blue hour is my favourite time to shoot, even if is did mean a 04:00 wake up call.
Last light
A magical Anasazi ‘kiva’ tucked into a giant alcove, perched high on a cliff edge in Canyonlands.
Never easy to find, False Kiva wasn’t marked on any park maps, the hike was remote, the trail barely marked with a some hairy cliff sections.
.Unfortunately, social media over popularised this remote and sensitive location forcing the National Park Service to shut access.
So this was my first and last visit. Take pictures. Leave only footprints.
GOLDEN CROWNS
The engine houses at the Crown mine are insane examples of Victorian ingenuity and feats of engineering.
Perched precariously over the Atlantic, they cling to the sides of the cliffs that dwarf them. These engine houses are the entrances to several mine shafts sunk deep under the seabed in pursuit of tin.