Everything You Have
rural exploration
Hell’s Kitchen
It’s one thing to risk heading into an abandoned house. You could step on a rusty nail, or get attacked by a mongrel dog.
It’s another thing to walk into a kitchen and find the floor missing.
One whole half of the house, in fact, was either caving in or on its way into the basement. With big holes in the roof, there’s nothing to stop Michigan’s chaotic weather from seeping in. It takes time, but eventually nature does its thing.
The only thing keeping the kitchen intact was the underlying structure – load-bearing walls as saviors.
Devastating. And a rich environment for photo making.
This Halfway Home
This Halfway Home – Concord, Michigan
An abandoned home, near the railroad tracks, that is quickly falling apart. The kitchen is something to see.
Another Day Rises
Another Day Rises – Albion, Michigan
Discovered another abandoned home on my morning commute, this time perfectly timed with the rising winter sun. Just wait ‘till the weather gets warmer – I’ll be back.
Abandoned Farm Field
Caught this in an abandoned farm field, along Michigan’s stretch of US-12, before winter really hit in our area.
The sunset was lovely that night, just after Christmas, and there was lots of exploring to do. More on that later.
Abandoned Farm
I’ve passed by this particular farm probably dozens of times. It sits along US-127, a major highway between my hometowns, my college, everything.
But it’s only recently I’ve noticed that the place is dead and abandoned. Those telltale signs, like an overgrown lawn and broken windows, were evident even from the highway.
So I picked a warm summer night in July and pulled in to explore.
The grounds of the place are pretty overwhelming, with tons of buildings and a overgrown fields surrounding the place. What struck me was the variety: barns and storage buildings and milking structures.
The house was your typical abandoned house, open to the elements for who knows how long. The upstairs was in pretty relatively good shape. Parts of the house were still protected, like the kitchen.
I didn’t dare take a peek in the basement.
Ramshackle
Sure, there’s a bit of bravery needed to pull the car over and climb into an abandoned and nearly-collapsed shack on the edge of an overgrown tree farm.
And then you see the creep-tastic shrine someone made out of a skull and carcass bones.
But there’s also adventure, and the gnawing desire to see what’s inside the thing.
So it was that I climbed into this ramshackle little building, probably no more than 15 ft. by 30 ft., after passing if for many years along M-60 just east of Spring Arbor, Mich.
Summer Breeze
Abandoned House – Albion, Michigan
Thanks to fellow photographer Matt Lockwood for the heads-up on this place. I’ve photographed the exterior before, but never the interior.
Local Barn
A landscape follow up to my favorite little local barn.
Honored to have it featured on Flickr’s Explore.
From my previous post on exploring abandoned places with my Fuji EX-1, here’s the abandoned home near Spring Arbor, Mich.
There was also a business of some sort attached to the property (it’s listed as commercial real estate, I think I saw on the sign). A boat out back, a big field, and a large empty storefront.
I always wonder why these types of places are taken over by homeless folks. The threat of arrest? Guarding your turf from other vagabonds?
A lot of the house, especially past the kitchen, were too dark to explore. But there were enough fun little details, like the hat sitting on the counter, to make this a worthwhile location.
I may have to ask my realtor friends what the story is on this property.
I drive by this abandoned farm every morning on my way into work.
Every building looks on the verge of collapse – or is in fact collapsing.
Since I pass it every day, I watch to see if anyone is ever there. There’s only been one time when I noticed the locked gate open and a pickup truck in the driveway. Other than that, nothing. No one.
From what little I could tell, it looks like it used to be an old orchard or market – with a storefront.
There’s lots of scattered equipment everywhere. Lots of pieces look like they were dropped right there when the owners walked away.
And the doorways. They’re all propped shut – like the former owners were trying to keep something inside.
Nothing but bedlam. And time. And rain and snow, wearing away at the foundations of this place until the only thing holding the walls up are the propped two-by-fours.
Last fall I finally took a chance and slipped in for a walk-around.
It’s eerie. It really does look like something catastrophic happened and the farmers had no choice but to flee.
That’s me placing a story on top of something time and weather accomplished. But still, it’s fun to wonder.
Photos edited with VSCO Film 03 Polaroid 690-, and shot with the Canon EOS M.
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