All your base are belong to us?

 

read my comment above his. silly boy

 

Only on Tuesdays.

 

Thats not fair, it was hidden... Maybe also cause I didn't read the entire thread, just looked at the perty(well maybe not so perty) pictures.

-Brian

 

Here are a few crumbling gems from Constanta, the main Romanian port on the Black Sea. Constanta has been an important port for many centuries, built on the site of the ancient Greek city of Tomis. Today, it's sort of a gritty, seedy city, with a recovering economy, but the old town section, jutting out into the sea, is absolutely loaded with abandoned buildings, even right next to successful hotels and restaurants.

This one was actually occupied (top floor lights on at night):


The beach and ocean are RIGHT on the other side of this one; I can't figure out how someone hasn't rehabbed it yet.




The other side of this city block looked normal, with nice storefronts:


An old church/temple/mosque of some sort. The wall along the side was actually about 6-7 feet high, or else I would have hoisted myself up for a look. As it was, this was a part of down where I didn't want to draw attention to me and my Nikon.





I loved this one:

 

beautiful pics chrisneal... makes me want to travel so more.

 

I love how the power lines radiate out from the building.

 

Great pics of really cool old buildings. wonder if any of them are for sale?

 

Thanks chrisneal for sharing those photos with us. Very unique location that I wouldn't normally get to see anywhere else.
Cheers!

 

In that case, you'll probably enjoy this one!

 

I love photography but don't have the time or money to get into it.

If you like abandoned houses and such check out...

http://www.lostamerica.com/

and

Search for "PM ME! for the name" on google. It is an abandoned Mental Institution about 25 minutes from my house that has a huge exploration following and there are tons of pictures out there of it.

~ Derek

 

If you're interested in night shots, LostAmerica has a "technique" section that includes quite a bit of information on lighting techniques. Long exposures with various colors of flash, spot, and bounce lighting can yield very interesting photos!

 

Yes, I've seen this technique (referred to as "light painting") used to spectacular effect in subterranean photography, like in London's sewer system.

Derek - I'd prefer to leave names of actual locations out of this thread, if possible. Thanks for the web link, though. I actually hadn't seen that one.

 

I considered that but the place is so well known in my area of the country that I did not think it would make a difference. I respect your request of course, this is your thread, so I removed the name of it and if anyone else wants it, PM me and I will send it to you.

I love your photography btw chris

~ Derek

 

Thanks, I appreciate that. I know it's a very well-known place, sort of like Byberry (now demolished) was, but you just never know when that one idiot is going to learn about a place from a forum post and then go torch the place. I just prefer not to take the chance.

 

ooooh more pics. Chris you get to go all the cool places :D

 

man
arent you guys scared or something???
man whenever isee some abandoned places, I automatically think 'death' 'ghost' 'horror' etc... i mean there must be a reason that the buildings were abandoned..

i should stop watching them horror movies... :impatient

 

Speaking of...I just watched Pan's Labyrinth which reminds me of a lot of these places and boy was that movie NOT what I was expecting. It's magnificant but very graphic.

 

Sorry to hijack....but my 13yo wants to watch this movie. She talked her dad into buying it, but we havn't watched it yet. Is it too out there for her to watch? She isn't the type to feak out or have nightmares, but I don't want something that just isn't appropriate. How bad is it??

 

Here are a few more photos from my trip to Romania.

Bucharest



Three photos of Copsa Mica, one of Romania's most polluted towns. Until the 1990's there was a huge steel operation, and a factory churning out black carbon (apparently for use in tires).








A never-completed, fenced-off cinder block curiosity in Sighisoara:






Another empty building in Sighisoara:




This place was still operational, but falling apart at the seams. It's a huge asbestos factory near Bicaz. Those ducts in the middle are about 8' in diameter.



Back in Bucharest... this is the unfinished Casa Radio, which was intended to house the National History, Army, and Communist Party Museums, as well as the tomb of dictator Ceausescu. This building is unbelievably, monstrously huge, and apparently being torn down to build apartment towers.







Finally, one more massive unfinished Ceausescu project, the National Library, in limbo since 1989:

 

I find amazing the number of unfinished 'new' structures in countries such as this.

Zip

 

Civic architecture says much about the builders.

For instance: the Sandra Day O'Conner Courthouse in Phoenix, a glass box over another box. Very defiant statement. That's also where all the glass went.

 

I don't think the author of that website cares much for that building.

 

Nice to see the madness in PHX hasn't changed any since I left 20 years ago. This amuses me, "We took a look around and found that no one was occupying public space in Phoenix. No one was outdoors. No one was even under a tree… We felt we needed to make an offering to the city in the way of a significant urban room, a shaded space where people could come as a respite." Yeah numb-nuts, why do you think that is; couldn't be that it's 120 degrees in the shade or anything. Funniest part is he build a solar oven with cell blocks. Maybe Sheriff Joe can take over the facility.

 

That SDo'C building is like some sort of very expensive practical joke.

"Howbout we make a courthouse out of a greenhouse in one of the hottest states in the country! And skip the air conditioning to boot!"

I dont mind the heat, in fact, I actually enjoyed it the last time I was in Phoenix and Tempe. No humidity, lots of sun. Not like the soup here in MD summers. But the last thing I would want is to work in a freakin' hothouse in that climate.